Sacred Heart
13-17,10-10MAAC
First Round vs No. 10 Saint Peter's
7-23,6-14MAAC
Survive and Advance! Pioneers Strong Second Half Leads to MAAC Championship Opening Win over Saint Peter’s
3/5/2026 6:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Atlantic City, N.J. – Using a 19-2 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters, the Sacred Heart women's basketball team was able to pull away and secure its first MAAC Championship win 47-34 over tenth seeded Saint Peter's University. With the win, the Pioneers advance to the quarterfinal round where they will face No. 2 Fairfield on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Leading the Pioneers on the afternoon was junior Nalyce Dudley who finished with 13 points, shooting 5-of-13 for the game while pulling down five rebounds. Dudley was one of two Pios in double figures, joined by junior Missy Nuku who finished with her first game in double figures with 10 points, including a pair of three pointers among a 3-of-5 effort with a perfect 2-of-2 trip to the free throw line as well.
As a team, Sacred Heart finished the game shooting 30.9 percent from the field, connecting on 17-of-55 field goal attempts. Among the 17 baskets were six three pointers while the Pioneers also won the battle of the boards by a 44-40 margin with junior Emma Kirby leading those efforts with a game-high 13 boards.
Sacred Heart also outscored Saint Peter's 15-7 on points off turnovers and held a slim 8-6 advantage in second chance points.
RECORDS
Sacred Heart: 13-17, 10-10 MAAC
Saint Peter's: 7-23, 6-14 MAAC
TOP PERFORMERS
Nalyce Dudley: 13 points, 5 rebounds
Missy Nuku: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Amelia Wood: 8 points, 6 rebounds
FIRST QUARTER NOTES
· Coming out of the gates, the Pios were unable to find a rhythm offensively, held scoreless for over seven minutes before Dudley out SHU on the board with a drive to the hoop.
· Wood followed that up with a pick and sprint to the hoop for the fast break bucket. The senior picked off a pass near midcourt that she knocked ahead, tracking it down in front of the Saint Peter's bench where she drove to the hoop.
· The Pioneers would close out the quarter trailing 11-6 following a driving layup from Sophie Nascimento with less than a second remaining.
SECOND QUARTER NOTES
· Coming out o the first break, the Pios would net the first four points, making it a one points game less than a minute into the action. After Dudley opened up the scoring with one-of-two at the line, Nuku connected from beyond the arc for the Pios first long-range bucket.
· The teams would trade two-point plays for the next three minutes before Nuku struck again from outside to knot the score at 15, the first draw of the day.
· Following a pair of layups from Saint Peter's, Dudley closed out the quarter with the final basket for either team as Saint Peter's took a 17-15 lead into the halftime intermission.
THIRD QUARTER NOTES
· Saint Peter's opened up the scoring in the second half with a basket on the opening possession, however Sacred Heart answered right back with back-to-back baskets from Dudley to knot the score at 21. The second of those, a jumper, pushed Dudley into double figures for the game.
· After the Peacocks went back-to-back for a four-point lead, Sacred Heart responded with their own back-to-back, a three from Faith Pappas and a layup from Dudley that provided the first lead change of the game.
· Sacred Heart then answered a single Saint Peter's layup with another back-to-back sequence, again with Pappas hitting from long range and this time with Sierra Johnson driving the paint for a layup.
· With the late 10-2 rally, the Pioneers closed the third quarter with a 36-29 lead.
FOURTH QUARTER NOTES
· That momentum would continue into the fourth quarter as Sacred Heart opened up the frame with nine unanswered, extending the run to 19-2 and opening up a 45-29 advantage that was too much for Saint Peter's to recover.
· Defensively, the Pioneers held Saint Peter's without a field goal for the final 12+ minutes of the game as the only points for the Peacocks in the fourth quarter came at the free throw line where they finished 5-of-8.
· All combined, Sacred Heart's defense held the Peacocks to 5-of-26 in the second half, just 19.2 percent.
NEXT
With the win over Saint Peter's, the Pioneers advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Air Force Reserve MAAC Championship and will take on the seconded seeded Fairfield Stags for the second time in less than a week after closing out the regular season against the crosstown rival. The quarterfinal matchup is slated for a 2:30 p.m. tipoff on Friday, March 6 with all of the action from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ carried live on ESPN+.
