Feb. 22, 2008

Sacred Heart vs. Quinnipiac Game Notes in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (18-8, 13-2 NEC) vs. Quinnipiac Bobcats (21-3, 13-1 NEC)

Game #27 - Saturday, February 23, 2008 - 1:00 pm - Hamden, Conn. - TD Banknorth Sports Center (3,500)

Radio: SacredHeartPioneers.com

The Storyline... The battle for Northeast Conference playoff season takes center stage Saturday afternoon as the Sacred Heart Pioneers pay a visit to the TD Banknorth Sports Center to face the Quinnipiac Bobcats for first place in the league standings. Sacred Heart (13-2) is a half game behind Qunnipiac (13-1) for first place and owns the only conference win against the Bobcats this season, a 92-82 victory at home in January. The winner of this afternoon's game will hold the inside track for the #1 seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament.

Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 28-22, after handing the Bobcats their only NEC loss this season, 92-82, at home on January 26th. SHU has won five-straight and nine of the last 11 meetings. Today's game marks the 22nd time head coaches Ed Swanson and Tricia Fabbri will face each other in the rivalry between the two schools with Swanson holding a 15-6 edge. The Pioneers have won nine-straight against the Bobcats at home in the Pitt Center with Quinnipiac's last win in Fairfield coming during the 2000-01 season, 72-69 in overtime. Quinnipiac holds a 16-15 edge in the 31 meetings between the two schools during their Division II days. The first ever meeting took place during the 1975-76 season, SHU's second year of competition.

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 18th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 296-210 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 169-91 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, (296) and winning percentage (.585). 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. Tricia Fabbri (Fairfield `91) is in her 13th season at the helm of the Quinnipiac University women's basketball program. Fabbri owns a 173-182 (.487) record in her 13 seasons at QU and overall.

Last Time Out... Junior Kaitlin Sowinski scored a game-high 21 points as the Sacred Heart Pioneers battled their way past a resilient Wagner Seahawk club for their fifth-straight win, 54-49, Monday night. Leading 16-10, Sacred Heart went nearly six minutes without a field goal but held Wagner at bay, never giving up the lead. Sowinski scored her first field goal at 6:22 to give the Pioneers a 19-15 lead. and from there scored nine of SHU's final 12 points of the half and was stellar on the defensive end registering five blocks in the first stanza. Sacred Heart opened second half with a 9-2 run for a 37-26 lead, forcing a pair Seahawk time-outs on the jaunt. The Seahawks responded with a 15-5 run over the next nine minutes to claw their way back to within one, 42-41, with 6:23 to play. The Pioneers needed to respond and kicked the lead to 48-43 with 3:17 to play. As they did all night, Wagner refused to falter and fought and clawed their way back, again to within one on a Casey Stokes three at the 1:10 mark. SHU went back to Sowinski underneath, and she just beat the shot clock for her final bucket of the game and a three point lead. Wagner went to the foul line on the ensuing possession but made just one of two setting up a possible foul situation. The Pioneers, however, helped the Seahawks out and turned the ball over after Ryan got loose and looked headed for an uncontested lay-up but was called for the travel. Wagner's Andrea Reed tried to go the length of the court and her lay-up missed the mark with three ticks left and Cosgrove corralled the rebound and hit both free throws off the foul to seal it and let her team escape with a 53-49 win.

Scouting the Bobcats... Quinnipiac has rattled off six-straight wins since their loss to the Pioneers and sit a top the NEC standings with four games to go. QU is coming off a big come from behind victory at Long Island on Monday night where they overcame a 16-point second half deficit to win 65-61. The Bobcats were fueled by the return of senior Monique Lee who suffered an ACL knee injury in the loss to the Pioneers. Lee returned to the court against LIU and scored all 16 of her points in the second half come from behind win. Junior Erin Kerner is the team's leading scorer at 16.2 points per game. As a team, the Bobcats are second in the NEC in scoring at 70.5 points per game and lead the league in scoring margin (+12.1).

Last Meeting with Quinnipiac... Sacred Heart junior Kaitlin Sowinski scored a career-high 33 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Pioneers dealt the visiting Quinnipiac Bobcats their first NEC loss on the year, 92-82, on January 26th. Sowinski shot 13-of-19 from the floor and seven-of-11 at the line before fouling out in the game's closing minute. Leading 37-34 at the break, the Bobcat lead hit eight out of the half as they rattled off a quick 10-2 spurt. Sowinski got a 13-2 Pioneer rally started with a three-point play followed by a pair of Stephanie Ryan three's. The junior center finished the run off with a lay-in for a 53-50 lead with 13:41. Quinnipiac tied the game for the seventh time at 12:41 on a Pennewell three, 55-55 and battled all the way back to a 71-70 lead with just under five minutes to go. Ryan came up big with a three-point play on SHU's next possession and freshman Alisa Apo had the play of the day, slicing her way to the basket as the shot clock melted away, hitting a lay-up and drawing a foul. Apo nailed the ensuing free throw and put the Pioneers up seven, 82-75 with 1:57 left. Quinnipiac fouled the rest of the way and the Pioneers responded hitting 10-of-12 down the stretch to secure the victory. SHU shot a scorching 66.7% (16-24) in the second half as four starters finished in double figures. Apo tied her career-high with 24 points.

Pioneers in the Northeast Conference... Sacred Heart is in it's ninth season of play in the Northeast Conference. The Pioneers have posted a 119-40 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 119. Bill Sheahan from Mount St. Mary's is the all-time leader at 124 victories.

Team News and Notes...

- The Pioneers are 13-2 in NEC play and in second place in the standings, behind Quinnipiac (13-1) and in front of Robert Morris (12-2). SHU has three games remaining, today vs. QU, next Saturday hosting Central Connecticut and closing the season a week from Monday hosting Robert Morris. The Pioneers already own wins over all three teams and can control their destiny for playoff seeding as wins in all three will hand SHU any tie-breaker scenarios.

- The top-seed in this year's tournament will only earn the right to host the championship game if they advance that far. Reverting to the format from three years ago, the first two rounds of the NEC playoffs will be held at Long Island University on March 8th and 9th. SHU is 0-2 in the Blackbirds new building since its opening two seasons ago.

- Sacred Heart notched their 18th win of the season on Monday night at Wagner. In doing so, the Pioneers clinched their seventh-straight season with at least 18 wins, the longest streak in the NEC.

- Junior Stephanie Ryan joined teammates Kaitlin Sowinski, Alisa Apo and Maggie Cosgrove in taking home a Choice Hotels Player of the Week award on Monday. Sacred Heart has never had four different players win an NEC weekly award in the same season since joining the league. Ryan earned her first career award after leading SHU to wins over Monmouth and Saint Francis (PA) last week. After winning the award, Ryan responded with her eighth double double Monday night at Wagner with 11 points and 10 rebounds along with a career-high six assists.