March 17, 2006

Sacred Heart NCAA Media Guide in PDF Format
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Northeast Conference NCAA Tournament Notes

The Sacred Heart Pioneers will officially make their NCAA Tournament debut Sunday afternoon when the Northeast Conference Champions square off with the third ranked Maryland Terrapins in State College, Pennsylvania.

Sacred Heart is riding a 10-game winning streak with a school-record 26-4 record heading into Sunday's game. The Pioneers finished first in the NEC after a 16-2 regular season, also a school record mark, that gave them their first-ever regular season league title and the top-seed in the conference tournament.

The Pioneers earned the right to host every tournament game they played in, a huge edge after a 12-0 mark during the year in the William H. Pitt Center. SHU opened the NEC Tournament with an 83-55 win over the #8 seed Fairleigh Dickinson to set up a match-up with #5 seed Long Island in the semifinals. The Pioneers posted a 64-50 win advancing to their first-ever title game.

In front of a school-record crowd of 1,406, the third time this season the Pioneers set a new women's attendance mark, Sacred Heart came away with a 69-65 win over rival Quinnipiac to secure the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

SHU will also make their National TV debut with game coverage being provided by ESPN2. The Pioneers and Terps will be featured in the second game of the day as the University of California and St. John's meet in the opener at 12:00 noon. SHU and Maryland will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

The game will also be covered live on WICC-600 AM and on the Sacred Heart Athletic website (www.SacredHeartPioneers.com). Fans can visit Pioneer Tournament Central on the front page of the website for links to audio and Live Stats provided by the NCAA.

For more tournament coverage visit: ESPN.com and NCAASports.com.