FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team hosts Manhattan on Thursday, Mar. 6, for its penultimate game of the 2024-25 season at 7 p.m. at the William H. Pitt Center. 

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OPENING TIP

• The Pioneers welcome the Jaspers on Thursday, Mar. 6, for their penultimate game of the season. 
• SHU will meet Manhattan for the ninth time in the two teams' histories, as the all-time series is tied at 4-4. 
• Sacred Heart is coming off a hard-fought 69-58 loss at Fairfield in its most recent game. 
• SHU led by 11 after one quarter and by one at halftime against the MAAC-leading Stags. 
• Unfortunately for the Pios, Fairfield's offense came alive in the second half to propel them to the home victory. 
• SHU's six-point and 11-point defeats to the Stags are the closest any MAAC team has been against 18-0 Fairfield. 
• Ny'Ceara Pryor led all players in scoring with 20 points against the Stags. 
• Emma Kirby was next on the Pioneers with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. 
• Nalyce Dudley hit a career-best three 3-pointers and finished with nine points.

LAST TIME OUT
Sacred Heart played a second competitive game against the Stags on Saturday, falling by a 69-58 final score at Fairfield. The Pioneers led by 11 after the first quarter and by one at halftime, 38-37, putting together an impressive defensive performance. Unfortunately for SHU, the Stags proved why they are one of the best teams in the region, pulling away in the second half to earn the home victory. Ny'Ceara Pryor paced the Pioneers in scoring, putting up 20 again against the Stags. She finished the night with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and six steals. Emma Kirby tallied her third consecutive strong game on Saturday, tallying 12 points and seven rebounds. Nalyce Dudley hit a career-best three 3-pointers and finished with nine points.

CAREER HONORS
Heading into the final two games of the season, Pryor continues to make her way up the SHU all-time leaderboards. She became the third player in program history to tally 400 assists in their career on Saturday. Pryor is 10 shy of tying second on the all-time assists leaderboard and 16 shy of fourth on the points leaderboard with 1,742.

SCOUTING MANHATTAN

• The Jaspers are tied for sixth in the MAAC standings going into the week, having already clinched a spot in the league tournament. 
• Manhattan is 8-10 in the conference after winning two straight against Canisius and Niagara. 
• The Jaspers have been one of the most well-rounded teams in the league, ranking third in the MAAC with a 2.9 scoring differential. 
• Manhattan also paces the conference in blocks per game (4.4), field goal percentage defense (37.0) and rebounds per game (37.3).
• Leading the charge in the post are Petra Juric and Leyla Öztürk with 6.5 and 6.1 rebounds per game, respectively. 
• Öztürk also paces the team with 1.7 blocks per game. 
• Nitzan Amar and Inés Giménez Monserrat lead the scoring efforts at 10.9 and 10.3 points per game, respectively.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Sacred Heart meets Manhattan for the ninth time in the two teams' histories on Thursday. 
• With their win earlier in the season, the Jaspers evened the all-time series at 4-4. 
• SHU heads into Thursday with a perfect 3-0 at home against Manhattan.