Feb. 17, 2005

Complete Sacred Heart vs. St. Francis (PA) Game Notes in PDF Format
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GAME 24
St. Francis University (14-9, 12-2 NEC)
vs.
Sacred Heart University (14-9, 11-3 NEC)
Thursday, February 17, 2005
7:00 pm EST
William H. Pitt Center (2,100)
Fairfield, CT
Officials:  John Riordan, Frank Geiselman, Pamela Wine

The Storyline... The Sacred Heart Pioneers welcome in Northeast Conference leader St. Francis (PA) Thursday night looking to stake claim to a share of first place with a win. SHU is one game behind the Red Flash along with the Robert Morris Colonials who visit the Pitt Center next week. Despite falling in Loretto, 89-69, last month, the Pioneers have kept pace with the Red Flash by winning five of their last six. SHU is 2-1 against St. Francis in the Pitt Center but it was the Red Flash who last handed the Pioneers a conference loss at home with a 66-63 overtime win in 2003. Since then, the Pioneers have rattled off 19-straight at home in NEC play.

TV/Radio/Internet: Tonight's game will be broadcast live on WHRT 91.5 FM. Jeff Holtz, the voice of Pioneer athletics, and Gene Gumbs, SHU Assistant Athletic Director for Communication, will call the action. The game can also be heard on the Internet through the Sacred Heart University website, SacredHeartPioneers.com, and clicking on the audio link on the schedule at the bottom of the front page.

Series... St. Francis (PA) leads the all-time series, 5-3 and have won four-straight over the Pioneers. The Red Flash blistered the Pioneers in their first meeting this season, winning 89-69 on their home court. St. Francis won the only meeting last season, 87-55, at home and took both meetings in 2002-03. The Red Flash handed the Pioneers their worst NEC defeat since joining the conference that season, 61-36 in the their meeting in Loretto. The 36 points were the lowest point total for an Ed Swanson coached team and the lowest offensive output since a 71-39 loss at Mercy in 1987. St. Francis (PA) took the initial meeting back in 1999-00, dropping the Pioneers 65-49 at home. SHU bounced back a year later to win both meetings and made it three-straight winning the only meeting during 2001-02.

Last Meeting with St. Francis (PA)... Sacred Heart fell at the hands of St. Francis (PA) on January 24th, dropping an 89-69 decision in Loretto, PA. The Red Flash used a monster first half by senior Christin Black who scored 16 of her game-high 21 points as SFPA led by as many as 24 in running away with the victory. The Red Flash got out the gates quickly with three's by Black, Amber Hein and Sarah Bolton followed by a three-point play by Regina Schlichter to go up 12-4 in the early going. St. Francis pulled out in front by 12 at the 14:16 mark on back-to-back lay-ups by Black as the Red Flash hit four of their first six shots, three of which came from downtown. The Pioneers whittled the lead back to seven on a pair of Colleen White jumpers but a 9-0 run capped by a Lauren Gompers three gave St. Francis at 16 point lead, 29-13, with just over eight minutes to play. The Red Flash continued to pour it on, closing the half with 9-0 run to grab their biggest lead at 48-26 before a pair of Allie Bagnell free throws ended the first half. SHU was plagued by sloppy play over the first 20 minutes, turning the ball over 12 times while getting crushed on the boards, 26-8. Black picked up where she left off in the first half, burying a three to open the scoring for the Red Flash out of the break. The senior forward finished nine-of-14 from the field to lead all scorers. Senior Beth Swink, last season's NEC Player of the Year, was limited to just two points in the first half but finished with 17 points to go with 10 rebounds on the night. Also in double digits was Schlichter with 14 and Bolton who tallied 10 in the win. Sophomore Amanda Pape led all Sacred Heart scorers with 18 points. Freshman Lisa Moray scored 11 points, hitting three from behind the arc.

Scouting the Red Flash.... The Red Flash, the three-time defending NEC champions, enter tonight's game with a seven-game winning streak and hold a one-game lead over the Pioneers and Robert Morris in the standings. Senior Beth Swink leads the team and the in conference scoring 22.5 points per game while shooting 51.7% (194-375). In Monday's win over Monmouth, Swink scored 27 points and became the second leading scorer in NEC history with 1,956 points. Swink also leads the squad in rebounding at 7.3 boards per contest. Fellow seniors Christin Black and Sarah Bolton are also averaging double figures for St. Francis. Black has a 12.4 scoring and dropped 21 in their first meeting with SHU earlier in the season. Bolton is averaging 10.0 points per game and is second to Sacred Heart's Kerri Burke in the league with 102 assists on the year. As a team, the Red Flash lead the league offensively in scoring (70.3 ppg), free throw percentage (73.9%), assists (17.96 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (0.90).

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU '89) enters his 15th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 226-185 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have an 100-66 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, (226) and winning percentage (.550). He also earned his first ever NEC Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year award after guiding SHU to a school record 21 wins last season. Jill Poe (West Virginia `89) is in her second season at the helm of the Red Flash women's basketball program. She has compiled a 39-15 record in her two years at St. Francis.

SHU in the Northeast Conference... Sacred Heart became a member of the Northeast Conference during the 1999-00 season and since that time posted an 100-66 overall and 72-32 conference record. SHU is coming off their most successful year in the conference, where they finished with 14 wins and the second seed in the tournament.

Pioneers Hit 100 Division I Wins... Monday night's win over St. Francis (NY) marked the 100th Division I victory for Ed Swanson and the SHU women. The Pioneers joined the ranks of Division I and the Northeast Conference during the 1999-00 season. They have averaged 17 wins a season in their first five years in the league.

Grind `Em Out Wins... The Pioneers have found themselves facing second half deficits in the past two games and have found a way to come out on top on both occasions. Last Saturday, SHU trailed by eight with just over seven minutes to go but churned out a 14-0 run to erase the margin and come away with a 65-60 win over CCSU. On Monday, the Pioneers struggled offensively much of the night, shooting just 33.3% for the game and were down three to St. Francis (NY) with 9:34 to play. Sophomore Kerri Burke led the offensive charge and SHU outscored the Terriers 23-12 the rest of the way to nab the victory. Pioneers in Double Figures... Sacred Heart has placed four players in double figures 11 times this year. SHU is 10-1 on the season when they have at least four players find double digits on the stat sheet and 2-0 when five-players accomplish the feat.

Jasmine Walker...A difference maker... Since the return of sophomore center Jasmine Walker to the starting lineup against Mount St. Mary's on January 8th, the Pioneers have lost just twice and are 10-2. In the 12 games since, Walker has three double-double efforts and is averaging 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Walker started the first two games but then was limited due to a bought with the flu. The team was just 3-6 in games she didn't start.

Amanda Pape...Scoring Streak... Sophomore guard Amanda Pape has found double-digits in 20 of Sacred Heart's 23 games this season. The three games she was held under 10 points, Kansas, Richmond and Quinnipiac. All were losses.