Nov. 13, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-0, 0-0 NEC) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)

Game #1 - Friday, November 14, 2008 - 7:00 pm CST - Lawrence, Kan. - Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)

TV: Sunflower Network - Kansas Multimedia: Gametracker

The Storyline... The Sacred Heart Pioneers lift the curtain on the 2008-09 season Friday night as they open up on the road at the University of Kansas of the Big 12 Conference. The Pioneers welcome back all five starters and 10 letterwinners from last season's 19-11 club as they head into this season as one of the favorites to claim the Northeast Conference title. SHU was picked to finish third in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving three first place votes. A pair of Pioneers earned Preseason All-NEC honors in senior center Kaitlin Sowinski and senior guard/forward Stephanie Ryan. Sowinski had a dominant junior campaign where she averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while Ryan led the Pioneers in rebounding at 8.0 per game in her first season in the Red & White. This Pioneer team will also feature last season's NEC Rookie of the Year in sophomore guard Alisa Apo, who averaged 12.3 points per game, tops among the league's rookies. Tonight's game also marks the season opener for the Jayhawks who have four starters returning led by junior Danielle McCray who averaged 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds last season.

Series... This will be the second meeting between the two schools with the Jayhawks holding a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series. In their only other meeting, KU posted a 59-48 win at home on November 24, 2004.

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 297-213 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 170-94 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, (297) and winning percentage (.582). He has twice been named the NEC Coach of the Year and is four conference wins away from becoming the league's all-time leader in regular season win. Bonnie Henrickson (St. Cloud State `86) is in her fifth season on the bench at the University of Kansas posting a 57-65 record. Prior to becoming the Jayhawks head coach, Henrickson spent seven seasons as the head coach at Virginia Tech where she led the Hokies to a 158-62 mark and five NCAA Tournament appearances.

Season Openers... For the eighth time in SHU's 10 years in Division I the Pioneers will start a season on the road. SHU is 4-5 in season openers since becoming a member of the NEC in 1999-00 and 17-17 all-time. SHU is 9-11 all-time in season openers away from home. The Pioneers have lost their last two season openers, falling at Rhode Island 62-43 last season and 68-46 at Boston College in 2006-07. The last SHU win to open a campaign was in 2005-06, a 65-49 win at Providence. The Pioneers also won the 2004-05 opener, 66-53 at Yale before falling in game two at Kansas.

SHU vs. the Big 12 Conference... This will be just the second meeting between the Pioneers and any team from the Big 12 Conference with their only game coming against the Jayhawks in 2004. Kansas has never lost to a team from the Northeast Conference.

Scouting the Jayhawks... The 2008-09 Kansas Jayhawks welcome back four starters and 12 letterwinners from a team that finished 17-16 and 4-12 in the Big 12 Conference last season. KU made their second postseason appearance in the last three years, advancing to the third round of the WNIT last season. The Jayhawks return their leading scorer and rebounder from a year ago in junior Danielle McCray who averaged 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in 2007-08. The backcourt features a trio of senior guards in Ivana Catic, a three-time team captain, as well as Katie Smith and Marija Zinic. In the paint, coach Henrickson will turn to 6-5 sophomore center Krysten Boogaard who had an impressive rookie campaign starting the last 21 of 22 games and averaging 9.4 points and 5.6 rebounds. The Jayhawks were picked to finish ninth in the 2008-09 Big 12 Preseason Poll.

Last Meeting with Kansas... It was a tale of two halves for Sacred Heart, leading 29-25 at halftime over the Kansas Jayhawks before missing their first seven shots of the second half while turning the ball over 11 times in the half's first eight minutes en route to an 11-point loss, 59-48, on November 24, 2004. Both teams struggled offensively in the first half with the Jayhawks shooting 34.4% (11-32) and the Pioneers hitting just 33.3% (10-30) from the field. KU looked headed into the locker room leading 25-19 before a SHU 11-1 run to closed the half. The Jayhawks came out flying to start the second half, hitting three of their first four shots to grab the lead back at 31-29 less than two minutes into play. The Pioneers went stone cold from the field with a pair of Amanda Pape free throws their only points until the 11:53 mark. The result was a 14-2 Kansas run where they hit five-of-nine from the floor and built an eight point lead, 39-31. The lead grew to as many as 11 with just over six minutes to go before Sacred Heart would mount one last run. Fueled by center Colleen Duggan, who hit three-straight shots and a free throw, the Pioneers cut the lead down to six, 52-46, with 1:39 to play. Needing a defense stop, the Pioneers came up empty when Erica Hallman drove through the lane and banked in her lay-up to push the lead back to six. A costly SHU turnover on the next possession and some solid shooting from the free throw line, 4-of-6, and the Jayhawks would close the game with a 7-0 run to earn the win. SHU's Nicolle Rubino led all scorers with 16 points to go with four rebounds and three steals. Pape finished with seven points but grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The Pioneers finished the game just 32.1% from the floor and 37.5% from behind the arc. Turnovers also plagued SHU, with 17 of their 27 coming in the second half. Kansas, who shot 47.8% in the second half, got 11 points apiece from Taylor McIntosh and Aquanita Burras. McIntosh also grabbed eight boards in the win.

Sowinski and Ryan - Preseason All-NEC Picks... The duo of seniors Kaitlin Sowinski and Stephanie Ryan were both named to the Preseason All-NEC team, marking the first time in school history a pair of Pioneers have garnered preseason accolades in the same season. Sowinski, a 2008 first team All-NEC pick, came into her own last season, finishing as the conference's fourth-leading scorer (17.2 ppg) and eight-best rebounder (7.4 rpg) while producing nine double-double performances. Sowinski, who is one of only four to rank amongst the league's top-10 in scoring and boarding, produced the second-best field goal percentage (.540) in the NEC. She is one of the league's fiercest shot blocker over the past two seasons. Swatting 101 shots (3.37 bpg) to lead the conference and finish fifth in the nation, Sowinski topped her sophomore total of 87 blocks (2.72 bpg). Ryan is coming off All-NEC second team honors in her first season in the Red & White and shared her teammate's knack for double-doubles with nine. After sitting out the 2006-07 season after transferring from Fairfield, she averaged a team-high 35.3 minutes per game and contributed on both ends of the floor, with 50 steals and 248 boards, both team highs. She averaged 11.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest, leading the NEC in defensive rebounds (200).

Return of the Rookie of the Year... The Pioneers will welcome back last season's NEC Rookie of the Year, the program's third such honoree, in sophomore Alisa Apo. The Pioneer's most explosive scoring threat, she put together a sensational freshman campaign where she led all NEC rookies averaging 12.3 points per game. She was second on the team in scoring behind Sowinski and was the Pioneer's top three-point shooter, knocking down 43.3% (45-104) from behind the arc. Apo broke into the starting line-up for good by the New Year and started 22 games on the year.

Experience in the Backcourt... Joining Alisa Apo in the backcourt is starting point guard Maggie Cosgrove along with a pair of experienced seniors in Khalia Cain and Liz Gruber. Cosgrove started 28 of the Pioneers 30 games and averaged 6.1 points with a team-best 78 assists on the season. She, along with Apo, showed the knack for knocking down the three, hitting a team-high 48 shots from downtown. Cosgrove finished the year with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, rare for a freshman point guard, turning it over 64 times against her 78 helpers. Cain started all 30 games last season and can play at both the point and off-guard spots. She put up career numbers during her junior campaign, scoring 8.0 points per game with 77 assists and 42 steals. Gruber will continue to be an offensive spark off the bench for the Pioneers.

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