Nov. 21, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-2, 0-0 NEC) vs. Fairfield Stags (1-2, 0-0 MAAC)

Game #3 - Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 1:00 pm - Bridgeport, Conn. - Arena at Harbor Yard (9,500)

Radio: www.SacredHeartPioneers.com Multimedia: Live Stats

The Storyline... The Sacred Heart Pioneers renew their crosstown rivalry facing the Fairfield Stags on Saturday afternoon at the Arena at Harbor Yard. This is year two of the Pioneer-Stag showdown after the rivalry restarted last season with a 58-56 Fairfield win. The Pioneers are looking for the first win in 2008-09 after an 0-2 road trip to start the season with losses at Kansas, 106-64, and Marquette, 77-75. The Stags are 1-2 coming in with a 69-49 win over UNC-Asheville in their opener.

Series... Fairfield leads the all-time series 8-4 after a win last season in the first match-up between the two schools since the 1980-81 season. The Stags posted a 58-56 win last November in the first meeting of the two schools on the Division I level. SHU and Fairfield met 11 times from 1974 through 1981 with the Stags holding a 7-4 edge during that stretch in the series. Fairfield won the first three meetings starting in 1974-75, Sacred Heart's first season of competition. The Pioneers got their first win in 1975-76, 64-51, and won again in 1977-78, 76-48. SHU took both meetings in 1978-79, winning 71-46 across town and 75-57 at home. Fairfield won the last two meetings, 83-55 in 1979-80 and 72-47 in 1980-81.

The Coaches... Ed Swanson (SHU `89) is in his 19th season as head coach at his alma mater. Swanson posts a 297-215 record in his career at Sacred Heart. His teams have a 170-96 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 (.580). 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. Joe Frager (Connecticut `84) is in his second season on the Fairfield bench after leading the Stags to a 22-9 record and a second place finish in the MAAC in his first year on the bench last season. Frager came to Fairfield after spending the previous nine years at Southern Connecticut State University where he led the Owls to the Division II National Championship and a school record 34 wins in 2007. Prior to his stint at SCSU, Frager rang up a 208-58 record as the head coach at Seymour (CT) High School.

SHU vs. the MAAC... Since joining the Northeast Conference in 1999-2000, the Pioneers are 5-2 against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. SHU saw a four-game winning streak against the league snapped last season in a 58-56 loss at Fairfield. The Pioneers are 10-17 all-time against schools that are currently in the MAAC. SHU has faced Fairfield University more than any other team from the MAAC posting a 0-1 record against the Stags, 4-7 during their Division II days. Iona holds a 5-2 mark over Sacred Heart while the Pioneers are 2-0 against Rider. Saint Peter's College is the only other team the Pioneers have faced from the league with the Peacocks 4-2 all-time against SHU.

Scouting the Stags... The 2008-09 Fairfield women's basketball team welcomed back four starters and 10 letterwinners from last season's 22-9 club as the Stags were picked to finish second in this year's MAAC Preseason Poll. The Stags are off to a 1-2 start, winning 69-49 over UNC-Asheville in the opener at the Bulldogs Tournament. Since, FU has lost two-straight, falling to Morgan State 57-55 in the tournament final and 61-45 to Villanova in their home opener. The Stags are led by senior forward Baendu Lowenthal, the leading returning scorer from last season. Lowenthal is averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in the early going this season. Senior guard Megan Caskin is averaging 5.7 assists per game.

Last Meeting with Fairfield... Sacred Heart got a then career-high 24 points from center Kaitlin Sowinski as they erased an 11-point halftime deficit but came up just two points short in a 58-56 loss to Fairfield University on November 18, 2007. The Pioneers dug themselves into an 11-point hole at the half thanks in most part to the effectiveness of the Stags on the glass. Fairfield outrebounded SHU 22-13 over the first 20 minutes of action, pulling down 13 offensive caroms leading to 16 second chance points. The Pioneers twice pulled within a bucket in the second half and tied the game at 54-54 on a Lisa Moray three with 1:06 to go but Fairfield's Megan Caskin help deliver her team the win, burying her second of two big three-point makes with 44 ticks left. Down 57-56 with 19 seconds left, the Pioneers needed to foul five times to force the Stags to the line for a one-and-one but Fairfield was able to run off all but one second before having to give SHU the ball back for a desperation heave down court that missed its mark. Sowinski's finished the game 10-of-16 shooting from the field and four-of-five at the line. She pulled down five boards and had six blocks in the loss. Moray came off the bench to bury five-of-eight from behind the three-point arc to finish with 15 points.

Last Time Out... The Pioneers were plagued by 32 turnovers as the Marquette Golden Eagles used 14 points from Jessica Pachko and 13 from Lauren Thomas-Johnson en route to a 77-55 win Monday night. The Golden Eagles took full advantage of the SHU miscues, scoring 30 points of turnovers as well as outscoring the Pioneers 35-5 on the break. Sacred Heart got 11 points from senior Stephanie Ryan who just missed a double double with nine rebounds. The Pioneers did an excellent job of holding All-American and John R. Wooden Award candidate Krystal Ellis in check, keeping the senior guard scoreless until 11 minutes to go in the second half. SHU jumped out early and grabbed a 5-4 lead thanks to a game-opening three off the hand of sophomore Alisa Apo. Marquette rode the hot hand of forward Pachko for most of the first half as the Golden Eagles jumped out in front thanks to an 11-0 run to lead 15-5 five minutes in. MU opened up their biggest lead of the half, 34-17, thanks to a 9-0 run started by a three from Thomas-Johnson with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Marquette began to pull away midway through the second half, piecing together a 10-1 run to take a 58-37 lead, their biggest of the night with 11:06 to go. SHU shot 32.1% (17-53) in the loss and were outscored 44-12 in the paint. The Pioneers got another strong performance from freshman Callan Taylor who scored 12 points with five rebounds, and assist and a steal. Apo tallied a team-high 13 in the loss.

Frosh Taylor Off to a Solid Start... Freshman forward Callan Taylor has cracked the starting lineup to open the season and has impressed in the early going. Taylor has scored double digits in back to back games and is second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game. She has 11 boards in the two games and is eight-of-10 at the free throw line and two-of-five behind the arc.

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.

Pioneers Sign Two to National Letters of Intent... SHU head coach Ed Swanson announced that Kiley Evans of Cazenovia, NY and Amie Toner of Willimantic, CT have signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period to attend Sacred Heart University next fall. Evans is a 5-9 combo guard from Cazenovia High School where she was last season named the OHSL Liberty League Player of the Year. Toner is a 5-10 guard/forward from Windham High School where she was an all-league and an honorable mention all-state player.

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