GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: January 22, 2026 LOCATION: Koessler Athletic Center | Buffalo, NY GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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THE LEAD
The Pioneers look to start another win streak when they travel to up-state New York for a pair of games that come less than 24 hours apart. Following a more than 400-mile trek that comes to an end just before the Canadian border, the Pioneers will kick off their five-day trip with a Thursday night meeting against the Canisius Golden Griffins as they look for their second home-and-home sweep of the season. Tip off from Buffalo, NY is set for 6:30 p.m. with all of the action in the MAAC contest available live on ESPN+.

SCOUTING SACRED HEART
After closing out their non-conference schedule with a 2-7 record, the Pioneers reset and stand at 6-3 in MAAC play. Leading the Pioneers is senior guard Amelia Wood who has scored double figures in the last 13 games and 16 of the 18 games this season. For the season she is one of two players to average double figures at 14.9 ppg. Additionally, Wood is second on the team in rebounding with a 6.3 per game average and leads the team with 39 assists, 46 steals and 14 blocks. After increasing her career-high in scoring to 21 in the New Year's Day win over Niagara and matching that against Marist, junior forward Nalyce Dudley is second in scoring average at 12.3 ppg while shooting at a team-high 47.7 percent (82-of-172) with that average increased to 54.2 percent when shooting from inside the arc. Freshman point guard Sophie Nascimento has also been a big factor to the success of late with her 9.0 per game scoring average in MAAC games, while she is averaging 12 points over the last five games.  As a team, the Pioneers are shooting 39.4 percent from the field (363-of-922) with 75 of the 363 baskets from outside the arc. Despite a season low 11 turnovers in the January 3 meeting against Canisius, the biggest area of improvement for the Pioneers needs to come in ball control as they are currently turning the ball over at a clip of 18.9 turnovers per game.

SCOUTING CANISIUS
After picking up its first MAAC win of the season against rival Niagara, Canisius stands at 1-7 in the league heading into the weekend. Most recently, the Golden Griffens dropped a 71-64 decision on the road at Mount St. Mary's. For the season, Canisius is being outscored by an average of 15.7 points per game. Despite the low scoring average (55.0), the Golden Griffens are shooting at a 41.0 percent clip which is third best in the league. Junior forward Shariah Gailes is the lone Canisius player to average double figures on the season with a 14.3 point effort, while shooting 53% overall on the season (64-of-122). She also leads the rebounding efforts with a 8.3 rebounds per game average. Senior guard Franka Whittenberg follows Gailes in the scoring column at 8.1 points per game. Inside of Canisius' 41.0  field goal percentage are 73 three pointers, while as a team they are limiting opponents to just 26.0 percent shooting from outside the arc which is currently 18th best in the nation.

SERIES HISTORY vs CANISIUS

·       Sacred Heart and Canisius meet for the fourth time in the history of the two programs.

·       In what was the Pioneers inaugural season in the MAAC, the teams met twice in a home-and-home series, with each team winning on the opposing home court.

·       The Pioneers took a 2-1 advantage in the series with a home win 19 days ago at The Pitt.

NEXT TIME OUT
Sacred Heart will spend the next few days in up-state New York as they face the quick turnaround to take on Niagara on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers are looking for another season sweep against the Purple Eagles after opening up the New Year with an 84-53 win over Niagara on January 1. Tip-off in the MAAC battle is set for 2:00 p.m. with all of the action available live on ESPN+.