STOP #1: William H. Pitt Center, Fairfield, CT
Saturday, January 5, 2013 - 1pm
St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers (3-8, 0-0) at Sacred Heart Pioneers (8-4, 0-0)
Watch on NEC Front Row
PRE-GAME NOTES
1. Sacred Heart looks to pick up right where they left off in NEC play last year. In 2012, the Pioneers went 15-3 in conference play, claiming their fourth regular season title. Then they went on to defeat FDU, Robert Morris, and Monmouth in the NEC playoffs en route to their third NEC Tournament championship in program history. The Pioneers look to become the seventh straight NEC WBB champion to win their conference opener the following season. The Pioneers will be battling this year to become the sixth repeat champions in NEC WBB history.
2. Since falling to Quinnipiac at the Pitt Center by 37 points last January, the worst NEC loss in Sacred Heart D1 program history, the Pioneers have won 13 consecutive home games. Sacred Heart has started out 5-0 at home in non-conference play this season, including a thrilling 61-60 win last Sunday over Siena. Against the Saints, Blair Koniszewski connected on a pair of clutch free throws, with just 1 second remaining, for the victory. Sacred Heart has averaged 64.2 points per game at home this season.
3. Pioneers sophomore guard Gabrielle Washington is showing no signs of a sophomore slump. After claiming Rookie of the Year in the NEC in 2012, Washington has started the 2012-13 campaign by scoring in double figures in all 12 outings. Her 17.2 points per game currently sits as the third best scoring average in the conference, and is nearly five points better than her scoring average from last year.
4. With the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks set to clash in a NFL Wild Card playoff game on Sunday afternoon, things might get a little tense on the Sacred Heart bench, as there are some tight Redskin and Seahawk family ties amongst the Pioneer roster. Senior Morgan Merriman is from Seattle. Merriman's father Sam was drafted in 1983 by the Seahawks, and spent 5 seasons with the franchise. Junior Blair Koniszewski is from Vienna, Virginia, located about 25 minutes outside of our nation's capital. Koniszewski's grandfather, John, suited up for the Redskins offensive line in the 1940's.
5. For St. Francis Brooklyn, they return 13 letterwinners and all five starters from last year's squad. Under first year head coach John Thurston, who replaced nine year coach Brenda Milano last spring, the Terriers have tripled their non-conference win total from 2011-12. The Terriers started this season 2-0, with wins over Army and Delaware State. St. Francis Brooklyn comes in following a 58-55 win over Rider last Saturday, moving within one win of matching their total from all of last year. In 2012, the Terriers didn't win their third game until January 28th. The Terriers non-conference slate also featured a 1 point loss to Penn, an OT loss to Yale, and losses to Columbia by 4 and Lafayette by 3. For a team that went winless in NEC play just 3 short seasons ago, the Terriers appear to be one of the most improved teams, on the rise toward returning to the NEC tournament for the first time since 2008. While they field one of the youngest rosters in the league, their non-conference body of work shows that they should be a very competitive group night in and night out this year, growing and improving as the season goes along.
6. The Terriers look to start 1-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Terriers are 3-23 all time in NEC openers, having lost their last seven straight since a December 2004 overtime win over FDU.
7. St. Francis has started eight different lineups in 2012-13, while the Pioneers have started the same five players for all 12 games so far (Norman, Evans, Washington, Merriman, and Bland).
8. Through non-conference play, the Pioneers and Terriers have posted the top two scoring defenses in the NEC. Sacred Heart leads the league, allowing only 58.6 points per game, while St. Francis Brooklyn is right behind, allowing 59.8 points a night.
9. Terriers sophomore Sarah Benedetti is one of the most improved players around, averaging five points better this year than last. Her 13 points per game in 2012-13 are good for 9th in the conference. Over the last five games, Benedetti is scoring 16.8 points with 6.8 rebounds. She also leads the NEC with 35 made three pointers, shooting threes at 45%, which is third in the league.
10. Sacred Heart leads the all time series 20-9. Sacred Heart won the first meeting in 1974-75, with the Terriers taking the next eight. However since 2000, the Pioneers have won 19 out of the last 20 meetings. Sacred Heart swept both meetings last season, 62-33 in Fairfield and 57-53 in Brooklyn. The last Terrier win in this series came back on 2/13/10, a 64-63 one point win.
The Terriers and Pioneers also share another interesting connection through ice cream. Laurelton Hall senior Olivia Levey signed her NLI to St. Francis for 2013-14. Levey works part time at the Walnut Beach Creamery ice cream shop in Milford, CT. Among their fall flavors on the menu, The Walnut Beach Creamery featured a "Big Red" flavor representing Sacred Heart University. The flavor is cheesecake cocoa red velvet with candies inside. While the future Terrier was serving up the Pioneers own ice cream flavor, she was also hard at work creating her own ice cream flavor. Levey won the annual employee contest this year with a "Tea Time" flavor of black tea and shortbread. On the court at Laurelton Hall, Levey is teammates with Carly Fabbri, the daughter of Quinnipiac Bobcats head women's basketball coach Tricia Fabbri, and Michelle DeSantis, daughter of former Quinnipiac men's coach Joe DeSantis.
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