Feb. 20, 2009

Sacred Heart vs. Monmouth Game Notes in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (18-7, 15-0 NEC) vs. Monmouth Hawks (14-11, 8-6 NEC)

Game #26 - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - 2:00 pm - Fairfield, Conn. - William H. Pitt Center (2,100)

Radio: SacredHeartPioneers.com Multimedia: Gametracker

The Storyline... Sacred Heart returns home to the William H. Pitt Center to play host to the Monmouth Hawks Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers successfully navigated their way to two wins on the Pennsylvania road trip, beating Robert Morris, 61-60, and Saint Francis (PA), 76-69, marking just the second time since joining the Northeast Conference they have swept both games in the Keystone state during the same season. The Pioneers stayed unbeaten in the NEC at 15-0 and clinched a share of the regular season title with three games left in league play before the postseason gets underway. The Hawks come to Fairfield tied for third place at 8-6, having won four-straight and nine of their last 11.

Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 13-7 after posting a 77-65 win on the road on January 3rd. The Monmouth Hawks snapped a seven-game Sacred Heart winning streak in the series by knocking the Pioneers out of last season's NEC Tournament with a 75-70 quarterfinal win at LIU. The Pioneers are 6-2 against the Hawks at home and 7-3 on the road in West Long Branch, NJ. SHU has won four-straight over the Hawks in Boylan Gym and five-straight at home in the Pitt Center. The two teams have met three times in the NEC Tournament with the Hawks holding a 2-1 advantage. MU posted neutral site wins over the Pioneers last season at LIU and in 2004, 64-60, at Wagner. Sacred Heart's lone win came at home, 50-46, in the 2007 semifinals. Monmouth took the first postseason meeting in 2004, winning 64-60 in the semifinals at Wagner.

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 315-220 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 189-101 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, (315) and winning percentage (.589). He has twice been named the NEC Coach of the Year and is the all-time leader in regular season NEC wins (135). Stephanie Gaitley (Villanova `82) is in her first season on the bench at Monmouth University after spending the last six years at Long Island University. Gaitley has guided the Hawks to a 14-11 record this season and racked up a 95-82 mark in her six seasons at LIU. She has also had head coaching stops at Richmond and Saint Joseph's and has amassed a 421-244 record in her 23-year coaching career.

Scouting the Hawks... The Monmouth Hawks have rattled off four-straight wins and sit tied for third place in the NEC standings at 8-6. After an 0-4 start to league play, the Hawks won five-straight and eight of their last 10 to clinch a spot in next month's eight team tournament field. The Hawks are led by senior all-league forward Jennifer Bender who leads the team in scoring and rebounding. Bender is seventh in the NEC in scoring at 17.2 points per game and fifth in rebounding at 7.7 caroms per outing. Complementing Bender on the front line is fellow senior forward LaKia Barber averages 12.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per night. Senior guard Marisa Jimenez is among the league leaders in assists, averaging 3.4 per game, and assist to turnover ratio (84 asst/68 to). Monmouth owns one of the NEC's top defenses, holding teams to a league-low 53.0 points per game and 37.5% shooting.

Last Meeting with Monmouth... The Sacred Heart duo of Alisa Apo and Kaitlin Sowinski scored 23 and 22 points each as the Pioneers posted a 77-65 win at Monmouth University on January 3rd. The Pioneers shot a season-best 55.3% (26-47) from the field and 95.0% (19-20) at the line in the win. SHU used a 16-4 run in the second half to open up a 37-37 game at the half en route to the win. The Pioneers did their damage at the free throw line down the stretch, hitting 12-of-12 over the final 7:44 as their lead went as high as 14 points. Stephanie Ryan hit for 13 points and seven rebounds. The Pioneers held a 29-22 advantage on the boards and got 14 second chance points. SHU hit 50.0% (6-12) from behind the arc for the second -straight game. The Hawks got 20 points from Jennifer Bender who led four players in double figures. MU hit 59.1% (13-22) in the first half but went just 10-of-29 (.345) in the second half.

Last Time Out... Sacred Heart got 27 points apiece from sophomore Alisa Apo and senior Kaitlin Sowinski as the Pioneers battled their way to their past Saint Francis (PA) on the road, 76-69. With Sowinski limited to just nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Apo carried the Pioneers scoring 16 or her 27 points. The sophomore guard buried her first three just seven seconds into play before the Red Flash would burst out with a 16-6 run over the next five minutes. Britney Hodges picked a pass at midcourt and raced in for an uncontested lay-in to give SFPA their biggest lead of the afternoon at 16-9 with 14:37 on the clock. From there Apo took over and guided the Pioneers to a 13-2 run to lead 22-18. After a Maggie Cosgrove jumper started the rally, Apo scored the Pioneers next 10-straight points to give her 15 by the 10:54 mark. SHU could only push their lead to six at the half, 33-27. Sowinski went to work in the first eight minutes of the second half, dominating with 12 of the Pioneers first 14 points out of the locker room. She gave her team its biggest lead, 63-51, with 6:43 left on her final field goal of the night. SFPA cut the lead all the way down to three thanks to an 11-2 run and SHU went right to their go-to player in Apo and the sophomore star delivered. Apo proved too much to handle, scoring eight-straight points down the stretch to help the Pioneers seal the win. Cosgrove was the only other Pioneer in double digits with 11 points.

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