Jan. 28, 2008

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (January 28, 2008) - Sacred Heart junior Kaitlin Sowinski (Hopkinton, RI) and freshman Alisa Apo (Freehold, NJ) swept the Choice Hotels Northeast Conference Women's Basketball awards announced Monday afternoon. Sowinski was named the NEC's Player of the Week for the second time this season while Apo earned the Rookie of the Week award for the fourth time on the year.

Sowinski, now a two-time Choice Hotels honoree, has been sensational for Sacred Heart all season and Saturday's game against the then first-place Bobcats proved no different. The Pioneers' junior center helped her team reclaim the top spot in the NEC standings by dominating Quinnipiac down-low to the tune of 33 points and 10 boards. Sowinski averaged a double-double (23.5 ppg-10.5 rpg) on the week, which also included a conference win over Fairleigh Dickinson. The 6-4 center took the Knights for 14 points and 11 rebounds. Sowinski, who connected on 13-of-19 field goal attempts while helping deal Quinnipiac its first league loss, shot 65.5 percent for the week. She currently sits third in scoring (18.2 ppg) and eighth in rebounding (7.5 rpg) amongst the league's leaders.

Apo claims Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week honors for the third consecutive occasion and fourth during the past five weeks. Apo torched Fairleigh Dickinson and previously NEC undefeated Quinnipiac for 24 points apiece in helping move the Pioneers back atop the NEC standings. Ten of Apo's 24 points against the Knights came from the charity stripe where the rookie guard finished a perfect 10-of-10. She also grabbed four rebounds and made three steals in the 12-point victory. Apo's hot hand resulted in another 24 points against the Bobcats on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and another perfect night from the line (8-8). The four-time NEC Rookie of the Week ranks 11th in both scoring (11.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (.454) on the NEC leaderboard.

The duo leads the Pioneers into a pair of road games in Brooklyn, N.Y. this week, against Long Island University on Monday night and St. Francis-NY this Saturday.