Feb. 10, 2008

Sacred Heart vs. Monmouth Game Notes in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (15-8, 10-2 NEC) vs. Monmouth Hawks (7-15, 4-7 NEC)

Game #24 - Monday, February 11, 2008 - 7:00 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - William H. Pitt Center (2,100)

Radio: WICC 600 am; www.SacredHeartPioneers.com

The Storyline... Sacred Heart returns home after two weeks on the road to play host to the Monmouth Hawks Monday night. The Pioneers have won four of their last five and eight of 10 since the calender changed to 2008. SHU had the weekend off after posting a 77-61 win at Fairleigh Dickinson last Monday night. The Pioneers and Hawks met back in December to open the 2007-08 Northeast Conference schedule with SHU earning a 61-58 win on the road. Monmouth has lost three-straight after a 78-72 loss to Mount St. Mary's at home on Saturday.

Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 11-6. The Pioneers have won six-straight in the series after a 61-58 win in West Long Branch in December. SHU won all three meetings last season series capped by a 50-46 win at home over the Hawks in the semifinals of the NEC Tournament. The two teams met once before in the NEC playoffs, with the Hawks posting a 64-60 semifinal win at Wagner. The two schools met for the first time during the 1997-98 campaign as the Pioneers were beginning the transitions to Division I. Sacred Heart is 5-2 at home against the Hawks, 6-3 at Monmouth and 0-1 at a neutral site.

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 18th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 293-210 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 167-91 record since joining the Division I ranks in 1999-00. Swanson is the program's longest tenured coach and is the all-time leader in coaching wins, (293) and winning percentage (.583). He earned his first ever NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award after guiding SHU to a then school record 21 wins in 2003-04. Michelle Baxter (St. John Fisher `87) is in her fourth season at the helm of the Monmouth women's basketball program. Baxter took over the reigns in January of 2005 and has led the Hawks to a 47-46 record. She is the fifth head coach in the school's history.

Last Time Out... Junior Khalia Cain led four Pioneers in double figures tying her season-high with 18 points to lead Sacred Heart past Fairleigh Dickinson 77-61 last Monday night. The Pioneers shot 50.0% (28-56) from the field and tied their season-high with nine makes from behind the three point arc. Tied 8-8 in the first three minutes of the game the Pioneers rattled off an 11-0 run over the next five minutes to jump in front 19-8. Junior Stephanie Ryan got the run started with her first of four three's on the night and Cain finished it off with a jumper in the lane. SHU's lead hit 15 points at the five minute mark before a Knight rally cut it down to single digits. Sacred Heart started the second half hitting three-straight from behind the arc, two by Ryan, and went up 48-34. Ryan's fourth triple of the night put SHU up 17 with 14 minutes to go and the lead hit 23, 64-41, by the midway point thanks to a runner in they lane by the junior. SHU went to the bench to finish it out and the Pioneers delivered, seeing the lead hit it's highest mark at 24, 73-49, with four and a half to go as all but one player scored in the win. In addition to Cain's 18, freshman Alisa Apo scored 16 with six rebounds and two assists. Cosgrove finished with 10 points and Ryan added 14 with seven boards and a pair of helpers.

Scouting the Hawks... After winning five-straight, the Monmouth Hawks are stuck in the midst of a three-game slide after a 78-72 loss to Mount St. Mary's at home on Saturday. The Hawks are holding on to the eighth position in the NEC standings with a 4-7 mark. At 1-7 on the road this season, Monmouth begins a three-game road trip tonight that continues on to Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson. Junior forward Jennifer Bender is the only Hawk averaging double figures at 14.1 points per game. Bender is also the team's leading rebounder at 8.6 boards per outing.

Last Meeting with Monmouth... Sacred Heart juniors Kaitlin Sowinski and Stephanie Ryan posted matching double doubles for the second-straight game to lead the Pioneers to a 61-58 win at Monmouth in the NEC opener for both clubs. Sowinski led SHU with 15 points and 10 rebounds while also posting five blocked shots. Ryan scored 14 and pulled down a career-high 14 boards. The Pioneers also got double digit afternoons from junior Khalia Cain, 10 points, and freshman Alisa Apo, 12 points off the bench. The Pioneers had to fend off a pesky Hawk team that battled back from a nine-point hole to tie the game at 50-50 with 6:25 left. SHU used a 7-0 run to jump back in front but another late charge put the Pioneers up just one, 57-56, with 1:23 to go. The Pioneers needed to make one more stop and Cain come up with a big steal and she along with Lisa Moray and Cosgrove made four-of-six at the line in the waning seconds to seal the win. SHU struggled at the free throw line hitting 22-of-38 (57.9%) and just two-of-23 (13.0%) from behind the arc.

Pioneers in the Northeast Conference... Sacred Heart is beginning their ninth season of play in the Northeast Conference. The Pioneers have posted a 116-40 conference record, having never finished lower then tied for third in the final league standings. The Pioneers have won back-to-back NEC Regular Season Championships and laid claim to the 2006 NEC title winning the league tournament. Head Coach Swanson is closing in on becoming the conference's all-time leader in regular season NEC wins at 116. Bill Sheahan from Mount St. Mary's is the all-time leader at 124 victories.

Team News and Notes...

- Junior Kaitlin Sowinski saw her streak of 22-games in double figures snapped at Fairleigh Dickinson a week ago. Sowinski finish with nine points on four-of-nine from the field and one-of-two at the line.

- Sowinski is closing in on becoming the 13th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Sowinski has 903 career points heading into Monday's game.

- Junior Khalia Cain matched her career-high with 18 points at FDU a week ago. She matched her 18-point outing against the Knights from January 21st at home.

- Junior Stephanie Ryan, playing with a bought of the stomach flu, turned in 14 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of action at Fairleigh Dickinson. Ryan was four-of-four from behind the arc, raising her shooting percentage to 41.0% (25-61) from three on the year.

- Freshman Alisa Apo continues to light it up against Northeast Conference competition. Apo is averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game over the 12 NEC games this year. Overall, the freshman guard is averaging 12.1 points per game and is second in the NEC hitting 47.0% (31-66) from behind the arc.

- The Pioneers have steadily become one of the better three-point shooting teams in the league. On the year, SHU is hitting 34.8% (120-345) behind the arc, ranking third among the conference leaders. Over the last four games SHU is shooting 52.0% (26-50) from downtown led by Stephanie Ryan (9-11) and Alisa Apo (7-12).

No Place Like the Pitt... The Pioneers have become one of the toughest teams on their home court, the William H. Pitt Center. Since the opening of the Pitt Center in 1997, his Sacred Heart teams have won 84% (120-23) of their home games including a perfect 15-0 in 2005-06 and 14-0 in 2003-04. Between 2002 and 2004, the Pioneers put together a string of 19-straight regular season wins at home in the Pitt Center. This season, they are 10-1 at home and have won seven-straight. Their .840 winning percentage at home ranks the Pitt Center nationally as one the toughest arena or visiting teams to earn a win.

Ryan Achieves Academic Success... Sacred Heart junior Stephanie Ryan was named to the CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Women's Basketball Team. Ryan was named to the District 1 Second Team sporting a 3.54 grade point average as a Sociology major at SHU. Ryan is joined on the District 1 Second Team by a pair of fellow NEC players in Quinnipiac junior Erin Kerner and Long Island sophomore Valerie Nainima. The NEC was also represented on the District 2 Second Team by St. Francis (PA) senior Emily Bollinger and Fairleigh Dickinson senior Shanay Freeman.