March 7, 2005

FAIRFIELD, CT - The Sacred Heart Pioneers will square off against #3 seeded Robert Morris in the semifinals of the 2005 Northeast Conference Tournament tonight. The #2 seeded Pioneers are playing just their third post season game at the arena and reached it by defeating #7 Mount St. Mary's 76-56 on Saturday afternoon. SHU won both meetings against Robert Morris this season and lead the all-time series 8-2. This is the first time the Colonials and Pioneers have faced each other in the NEC playoffs. If the Pioneers win this game they will advance to the NEC Championship Game for the first time in their history. This is the second time they have reached the semifinal round.

Robert Morris is in the midst of one of biggest turnarounds in the nation this year coming in with an 19-9 overall record and a 13-5 NEC mark. The Colonials finished last in the conference last season, posting a 3-24 record. The turnaround earned RMU Sal Buscaglia the NEC Coach of the Year honors this season. Much of RMU's success can be credited to the emergence of junior transfer Sugiery Monsac, the NEC Player of the Year this season. Monsac leads the team and is second in the NEC scoring 20.4 points per game this season. The junior forward also pulls down 11.6 rebounds, tops among league leaders. Two other Colonials are averaging double figures in juniors DeSheyna Perry and Tess Cooley. Perry is scoring at an 11.6 clip this season while handing out 77 assists and making 54 steals. Cooley scores 10.2 points per game while pulling down 6.3 rebounds.

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