Nov. 17, 2008

Sacred Heart vs. Marquette Game Notes in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-1, 0-0 NEC) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (1-0, 0-0 Big East)

Game #2 - Monday, November 17, 2008 - 7:00 pm CST - Milwaukee, Wisc. Al McGuire Center (4,000)

Multimedia: Gametracker

The Storyline... Sacred Heart will take on the Marquette Golden Eagles Monday night as they close out their season opening road trip. The Pioneers got the 2008-09 season underway on Friday night at the University of Kansas suffering a 106-64 defeat at the hands of the Jayhawks. The 106 points allowed was the most in the Pioneer's 10-year Division I history and the most ever allowed by a team coached by Ed Swanson. The Golden Eagles, the 2008 WNIT Champion, got their season off on the right foot with an 89-67 win over Oral Roberts at home on Saturday afternoon. Marquette had five players in double figures led by Preseason All-American Krystal Ellis who had 16. The Golden Eagles shot 50.0% (33-66) and got 40 points off their bench in the win.

Series... Marquette leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Golden Eagles won the only meeting between the two schools, 76-49, on December 21, 2002.

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 297-214 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 170-95 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 (.581). 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. Terri Mitchell (Duquesne `89) is in her 13th season on the Marquette bench and owns a 239-130 overall record. Mitchell owns more wins, has a better winning percentage and has taken her teams to more post-season action -six NCAA Tournaments and four WNIT's - than any previous Marquette women's basketball coach. In each of the last six seasons, the Golden Eagles have earned a postseason berth - including last season's Women's National Invitation Tournament Championship.

SHU vs. the Big East Conference... Sacred Heart is 3-9 all-time against the Big East Conference. The Pioneers have won three-straight over the Big East with a 76-69 over Providence during the 2006-07 season marking the last team SHU has faced from the conference. The Pioneers won their first game against the conference since joining the ranks of Division I in the 2005-06 season opener, defeating Providence on the road, 65-49. SHU added to that with an 84-57 win at Syracuse to finish 2-0 against the league that year. Sacred Heart is 1-1 against Boston College when the Eagles were a member of the Big East. SHU is 2-1 against Providence and 1-1 against Syracuse. The Pioneers have losing records against Pittsburgh (0-2), Georgetown (0-2) and Seton Hall (0-3).

Scouting the Golden Eagles... The 2008-09 Marquette Golden Eagles welcomed back four starters and 10 letterwinners from last season's 21-14 team that finished 8-8 in the Big East Conference. The Golden Eagles come into this season looking to build upon last season's WNIT Championship, a 81-66 win over Michigan State, and are off to a strong start beating Oral Roberts, 89-67 in the opener. Senior guard Krystal Eillis returns to lead the Golden Eagles after averaging 19.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game with 60 steals last year. Ellis was also the team's top shooter behind the three-point line, hitting 34.3% (67-190), and at the free throw line shooting 82.1% (110-134). During the preseason, Ellis was named to the John R. Wooden Top-30 and is an All-American candidate. She was an unanimous Preseason All-Big East pick as the golden Eagles were picked to finish in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Marquette is among the teams listed as receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Top-25 Polls.

Last Meeting with Marquette... The Marquette Golden Eagles used a superb shooting night to send the Sacred Heart Pioneers home with a 76-49 loss on December 21, 2002 in the only meeting between the two schools. The Golden Eagles held a seven point halftime lead, 37-30, but pulled away thanks to a 24-2 run in the second half to put the game out of reach. Sacred Heart, who played strong defense in the first half forcing 11 Marquette, struggled offensively, going 13 minutes to start the second half without a field goal and managed just two free throws over an 0-22 stretch. Marquette's Katie Alsdurf had the hot hand for the Golden Eagles, who shot 52.0% (26-50) from the field, 54.5% (6-11) from three and 72.0% (18-25) from the free throw line in the win. Alsdurf finished with a team-high 13 points on five-of-six shooting and a perfect three-of-three from behind the arc. Center Rachel Klug chipped in with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Golden Eagles had 11 players find the scoring column and outscored the Pioneers 39-19 in the second half. SHU's Nicolle Rubino led all Pioneer scorers with 14 points in the loss. Forward Brooke Rutnik had a strong first half, posting 10 points and four rebounds but was held to just one make in the second half, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. Brooke Kelly tallied 11 points and four rebounds. The Pioneers shot 28.1% (18-64) in the loss, just 18.2% (6-33) in the second half, while hitting just three-of-14 from behind the arc.

Last Time Out... Kansas junior guard Danielle McCray scored 22 of her game-high 29 points in the first half as the Jayhawks broke open a seven point game with a 30-6 run before halftime on their way to a 106-64 win over Sacred Heart Friday night. The Pioneers shot 34% (19-56) while turning it over 25 times as they allowed the most points in Division I history in the loss. SHU freshman Callan Taylor, making her collegiate debut in front of a loud, hometown cheering section, scored her first career basket on a lay-in underneath, getting fouled on the play. The freshman forward would have to wait out the media timeout before attempting to complete the three-point play, but her bucket at 11:50 proved to be the only points Sacred Heart would score for the next 8:45. By the time a Stephanie Ryan free throw hit the bottom of the net at the 3:05 mark the damage had been done as McCray led her team to 26-straight points during the drought, opening up a 49-18 lead. The Jayhawks kept their foot on the peddle to start the second half, ripping off a 12-2 run over the four minutes of action to open 64-27 lead on their way to a lopsided season-opening win. McCray shot 12-of-16 and hit five-of-seven from behind the arc as she tied her career-high to lead the way. KU hit a scorching 60% (43-72) and held a 43-30 edge on the boards. For the Pioneers, Kaitlin Sowinski finished with 13 points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks in the loss. Taylor put up 10 in front of the hometown fans to go along with six rebounds and two steals.

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