March 4, 2004

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The Storyline...The #2 seeded Sacred Heart Pioneers will take on Long Island in opening round action of the Northeast Conference Tournament Friday afternoon in Staten Island, NY. Sacred Heart and LIU will face-off for the third-straight year in postseason play with the Pioneers out to avenge two straight tournament exits at the hands of the Blackbirds.

TV/Radio/Internet: All Pioneer tournament games will be broadcast live on WHRT 91.5 FM. Jeff Holtz, the voice of Pioneer athletics, and Gene Gumbs 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.

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 85-56 overall record and 61-29 conference mark. The Pioneers have qualified for the NEC Tournament each of their five seasons in the league and have never finished lower than third in the conference standings.

The Coach... Ed Swanson (SHU '89) is in his 14th season as head coach at his alma matar. Swanson posts a 211-175 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 85-56 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, (211) and winning percentage (.547).

A Season for the Record Books... Head coach Ed Swanson and his Pioneers put together one of the greatest regular seasons in school history. Finishing at 20-7, the Pioneers recorded their best season in their five-year Division I history and have matched the 1995-96 team for the program's best record. SHU also finished with a school record 14-4 record in NEC play this season, earning its highest seed (#2) in the NEC Tournament since joining the league in 1999.

Another Winning Season and NEC Tourney bid...With a 20-7 overall mark to this point, the Pioneers have assured themselves a winning record for the fourth straight year. They have also secured a spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament for the fifth-straight year. SHU has never had a losing season since joining the ranks of Division I in 1999-00 and have posted at least a .500 record in the past nine seasons. The last losing campaign came in 1994-95 when the team finished 11-16.

Amanda Pape - ROOKIE OF THE YEAR... Freshman guard Amanda Pape, winner of seven NEC Rookie of the Week Awards, posted veteran-like numbers for the Pioneers this season in earning the NEC Rookie of the Year award. The Stamford, CT native follows teammate Nicolle Rubino as the league's top rookie after ranking seventh in the conference in scoring (15.0 ppg), 10th in rebounding (6.2 rpg), eighth in field goal percentage (49.6%) and second in steals (2.48 spg). Her impressive play also earned her a spot on the All-NEC Second Team and the All-NEC Rookie Team.

Ed Swanson - Tops of the NEC Coaching Class... Head coach Ed Swanson earned his first Brenda Reilly NEC Coach of the Year award after guiding the Pioneers to its best NEC finish at 14-4 and highest seed (#2) since making the jump to Division I. The 14 year coaching veteran also earned his 200th career victory earlier this season.

Home Sweet Home... The Pioneers continued their winning ways in the friendly confines of the Pitt Center this season. How friendly you ask? The Pioneers finished a perfect 14-0 at home this season and are 18-0 dating back to last season. Their last regular season loss came last year to St. Francis (PA) on Feb. 1st. SHU dropped an NEC Tournament game to Long Island a the Pitt Center in March as the tournament's host. The Pioneers are 53-12 at home since joining the NEC and 73-14 since the building opened in 1997.

Record Setting Winning Streak... The Pioneers set a new school record earlier this season when they rattled off 10-straight wins. The Previous record was seven-straight, set last season.

Senior Leadership... Ashley Kohl, Kate Maher, Shannon Quinlivan and Julie Messenger made their final regular season appearances in the red and white Monday night. Kohl has appeared in 113 games making 62 starts in her four years. She holds the school records for career 3-pointers (170), 3-pointers in a game (8) and 3-point FG% in a game (85.7%). She has scored 664 career points with 198 assists and 87 steals. Maher has played in 111 games with 46 starts. She has 567 points, 498 rebounds, 211 assists and 70 steals in her career. Quinlivan has 104 games to her credit with 380 points, 171 rebounds, 85 assists and 72 steals. She has posted career-high numbers this season for points (113), 3-pointers (23), field goals (39) and assists. Messenger, who joined the team as a walk-on this season after a stellar field hockey career. Messenger has gotten into eight games this year, scoring eight points with four assists.

Pioneer 3-point Sharp-Shooting... After some stellar 3-point shooting in the last three games, SHU has now sprung into the NEC lead for three-point field goal percentage, hitting 38.7% (153-395) on the year. In Sacred Heart's home win over Quinnipiac, the Pioneers knocked down a season-high 10 three-pointers in 20 attempts. Senior Ashley Kohl has been on fire of late, hitting six three-pointers in that last three-straight games. Kohl has hit 24 treys on the Pioneers recent five-game winning streak, along with 54 on the year, one of her career-high mark.

Career Milestones... As the regular season inches toward the finish line, seniors Ashley Kohl, Kate Maher and Shannon Quinlivan have each achieved some impressive career milestones. All three captains have appeared in over 100 games each in their four-year career's and with Thursday's win at Monmouth, the trio have won 71 games since coming to SHU four years ago. Kohl established a new school record for career three point makes earlier this year and now sits a 170 career threes and needs two assists to top the 200 assist mark. Maher is two rebounds away from reaching the 500 rebound milestone for her career.

Kohl All-Time Three-Point Leader... Senior Ashley Kohl entered February 9th's game with Robert Morris just two three pointers away from tying the all-time mark of 148 set by Ashley Durmer last season. Kohl not only tied the mark but charged right past it with four long range bombs to become the school's all-time three-point shooter with 170 career treys and counting. She is second all-time in three-point field goal percentage with a 35.8% (170-475).

Kate Maher Gives a Helping Hand... Senior Kate Maher accomplished a feat that no player in a Pioneer uniform as done since 1986. Maher handed out a career-high 10 assists in the win becoming the first player to reach double figures in assists since Julie Hogan recorded 14 against Bridgeport on February 24, 1986.

Pape Enters Tournament on a Roll... The NEC Rookie of the Year has put together a solid stretch of games heading into the tournament. Pape has scored in double digits in eight straight games and 22 of 27 on the year. The freshman guard has also shown the knack for getting to the charity stripe. She has hit 122 of 168 free throws this year, second only to Quinnipiac's Ashlee Kelly on the year.

Colleen Duggan's Block Party... Junior Center Colleen Duggan led the Northeast Conference in blocked shots turning away 42 shots on the year. She posted 1.56 swats per game, including a league-best six at Monmouth on Feb. 26th. Duggan's defensive prowess helped the Pioneers to lead the league in blocks for the second straight season. The Newington, CT native finished second in the league a year ago to teammate Brooke Rutnik who averaged 1.26 bpg. She holds the school record for blocks in a game with seven last year at Lafayette.

No Sophomore Slump for Rubino... Nicolle Rubino followed up her award winning freshman campaign with some solid sophomore numbers. Rubino finshed the year as the Pioneers second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. She shot 26.4% (43-118) from behind the three-point arc and 77.3% (51-66) from the free throw line. Rubino handed out 77 assist, up from last year's 45, while also making 52 steals. She also set a new career-high for points on two separte occasions, hitting for 23 points against Princeton and Mount St. Mary's.

Walker Strong in the Middle... Freshman Jasmine Walker has given head coach Ed Swanson a nice option off the bench in the paint this season. Walker is averaging 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds this season with eight blocks. She has career high's of 14 points (Mount St. Mary's) and 14 rebounds (Robert Morris) to her credit this season.

Maher Sweatin' the Small Stuff...Senior Kate Maher has been the workhorse for the Pioneers on the boards and in the paint this season. The senior had her best game offensively this season with 15 points at Robert Morris. Maher grabbed 14 rebounds against Yale to eclipse her previous career-high of 12 set against Lafayette earlier in the year. She is leading the team in assists with 92 and is the leading rebounder with 7.0 boards a game.

Big Wins... 18 of Sacred Heart's 20 wins this season have come by double digits and by an average of 17.3 points per contest. Included in that is two wins by 30 points or more. A 33-point victory came over Lafayette in the second game of the season, 92-59, and a 38-point win came over Central Connecticut. SHU's closest win came in a five-point, 99-94 double overtime victory at Monmouth.

Double Overtime Thriller... The Pioneers played in only the second double overtime game in the program's history when they came away from Monmouth with a 99-94 win. The last double overtime game came on March 9, 1979 when SHU lost to Iona, 71-70. Sacred Heart posted season-high numbers for points (99), 3 pt FG attempts (22), free throws made (30), free throw attempts (43), steals (25), blocked shots (10) and forced turnovers (41). Senior Ashley Kohl finished with a season-best 21 points and a career-high four steals. Sophomore Nicolle Rubino had a career-high seven steals while junior Colleen Duggan turned away a season-high six Hawk shots.

Record Crowd... On Saturday, January 31st, Sacred Heart's win over Central Connecticut was played before the largest crowd to see a women's basketball game at Sacred Heart University. 1,056 people packed the Pitt Center to cheer the Pioneers on to yet another win.

I Love the 70's...The 70-point mark seems to be the magic number for the Pioneers this season. The last 14 games that SHU has hit at least 70 points they have come away the victor.

Academic All-American... For the second year in a row, senior Ashley Kohl has been selected to the Academic All-American District I Second Team. The senior captain has appeared in 109 games in her four year career, starting 58. She maintains a 3.99 cumulative grade point average and will graduate this spring with a degree in psychology. The Academic All-America team is voted on each year by members of CoSIDA.

For more Pioneer notes, see the full Press Guide at the top of the page.