STOP #6: William H. Pitt Center, Fairfield, CT
Saturday, February 17, 2013 - 1pm
SACRED HEART PIONEERS 59 (17-7, 9-3), RMU COLONIALS 52 (7-17, 6-7)
THE GAME
After a
week in which winter storm Nemo wracked havoc on the Northeast Conference women’s
basketball schedule, things returned to normal on Saturday with a full slate of
action. The schedule was highlighted by a matchup in Fairfield, CT, featuring
two of the perennially strong programs in the league, the Sacred Heart Pioneers
and the Robert Morris Colonials. Finding a place in their respective trophy cases for championship
hardware has been not been a problem for the Pioneers and Colonials, who have
combined to win five out of the last seven NEC Tournament titles. Both teams
have high aspirations of returning to the top again this year, but didn’t exactly get
off to the best of head starts. SHU began the year 1-3 in conference play before rolling
off a seven game win streak to rise up to second place in the standings. RMU had to
endure early injuries and a brutal non-conference schedule before rallying to
get back even in conference play at 6-6, and right back in the thick of the
playoff hunt.
RMU would
then respond with a 9-2 run of their own, taking the lead for the first time,
19-18, on an Anna Gailite jumper with 4:22 left to play in the half. The Colonials
would go on to lead at the break, 25-23, forcing the Pioneers to have to do
something they had only done once all season, and that was come back to win a
game after trailing at halftime. SHU was 1-4 when trailing at the break,
ironically, that one victory came back on January 21st, at Robert Morris. The
Colonials led by ten at halftime on that afternoon, but the Pioneers would
storm back for the win, one of the signature wins that sparked their current
winning streak.
The Pioneers, who are not one of the better shooting teams in the NEC (only ranking seventh in field goal percentage), shot 30% from the floor in the first half, but did manage to take advantage of the Colonial miscues. Sacred Heart would go on to pour in 14 points off of 17 first half Robert Morris turnovers.
The Pioneers, who are not one of the better shooting teams in the NEC (only ranking seventh in field goal percentage), shot 30% from the floor in the first half, but did manage to take advantage of the Colonial miscues. Sacred Heart would go on to pour in 14 points off of 17 first half Robert Morris turnovers.
In the second
half, the Pioneers would prove to just have too much firepower for RMU to
handle. Sacred Heart, the number one scoring defense in the NEC and the team
that fields the conference’s top theft artist on its roster, played a stellar defensive
game. On two particular instances in the second half, SHU was able to force
some incredible turnovers. First, three minutes into the second half with RMU
holding a one point lead, Artemis Spanou pulled down a routine rebound. The
nation’s leading rebounder bear hugged the ball and looked up to see who to
throw the outlet pass to, up the court. However, never giving up on the play,
Gabby Washington came unnoticed from behind, pickpocketed the ball, then drove
to the basket, drawing a foul. Washington would make both free throws to give
SHU back the lead.
Later on,
at the midway point of the second half, Spanou was on offense, aggressively
backing her way to the basket from the left side. Ericka Norman came from
behind and reached her arm in, trying to take the ball away as both Norman and
Spanou hit the floor. On the way down, Norman must have gotten hit in the eye, however
she stayed with the play, with her arm on the ball, and forced a tie-up the
resulted in a Sacred Heart possession via the possession arrow. It was a
combination of those kinds of defensive plays, making the big shots when they
needed to at the end, and converting from the free throw line that would lead
the Pioneers toward the finish line on the afternoon. Sacred Heart shot 45.8% from the floor in
the second half, forced 12 turnovers while only committing four, and converted
14 of 16 attempts from the charity stripe. The Colonials, who played with a
short bench and only saw seven players take the court, had no answer. With SHU
up five in the final 38 seconds, Washington delivered the dagger. On a one on
one transition opportunity against Gailite, Washington drove to the basket,
absorbed a foul, and converted the layup. Although she would miss the ensuing
free throw, the final blow was delivered, as the Pioneers extended their winning streak to eight, 59-52.
Gabby
Washington, who ranks fourth in the conference in points per game, led the
Pioneers with 19 points and an incredible six steals. Also impressive, was the play of point
guard Ericka Norman. The junior from Chino Hills, CA controlled the game
beautifully, adding 8 points and 7 assists. Both players were a major part of
the defensive effort that forced 29 RMU turnovers, leading to 25 points off
turnovers.
Artemis
Spanou, the nation’s leading rebounder and the NEC’s leading scorer, recorded
her 19th straight double-double and 21st double-double of the season, with a
game high 20 points and 13 rebounds. However, RMU was hampered by her nine
turnovers. As mentioned, she had the ball taken from behind on a couple of
crucial second half possessions, and committed several traveling violations, an
Achilles heel to her game that has been present since she was a freshman. Spanou will go into her next game on Monday afternoon
against Quinnipiac just nine rebounds shy of joining Elise James as the only
two players in Colonial history with 1,000 career points and rebounds.
Sacred
Heart won their sixth straight game against the Colonials, and their eighth
straight game overall this season. They will look to keep things rolling on
Monday night against the St. Francis Red Flash. SHU leads Monmouth by one game
for second place in the conference standings, plus the Pioneers hold the head
to head tiebreaker edge. They are also two games ahead of the Flash, having
handed SFU their first conference loss of the season back in Loretto on January
19th. Robert Morris will look to rebound when they visit the unbeaten Bobcats
on a President’s Day matinee on Monday afternoon. At the moment, the Colonials
stand alone, in sole possession of seventh place. If RMU is going to qualify
for the NEC postseason for a ninth straight March, it is certainly going to be
a fight to the finish with every game down the stretch a “must win” and holding
the utmost importance.
CD POST GAME RECAP
Box Score
THREE
STARS
1. Gabby
Washington, SHU – 19 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals, 9-10 FT, 36 minutes
2. Ericka
Norman, SHU – 8 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 30 minutes
3. Morgan
Merriman, SHU – 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, block, 38 minutes
THE VENUE
The
Pioneers celebrated “Think Pink Day” at the William H. Pitt Center, raising
awareness for breast cancer research. Both teams wore pink warm-up shirts and
pink shoe laces, and even the referees got into the fun, sporting pink
whistles. Also, Sacred Heart celebrated their back to back NEC Championship
baseball team, as Nick Giaquinto’s squad received their championship rings
during a halftime ceremony. SHU was selected fourth in the preseason coaches’
poll and will begin their 2013 campaign on March 1st at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Saturday’s
game was the second of a five game homestand for the Pioneers. SHU has fared
very well on their home court over the last two seasons, winning 25 out of
their last 27 outings, the best home record in Northeast Conference women’s
basketball during that span. Sacred Heart will host St. Francis on Monday, and
Quinnipiac and Central next weekend to round out their regular season home
slate. The team finishes the regular year with three straight road games. SHU will
then hope to earn a playoff seed high enough to ensure returning to the
friendly confines of the Pitt Center for some postseason contests.
AROUND THE
NEC
QUINNIPIAC 61, ST. FRANCIS 50 – The Bobcats clinched their 13th
straight NEC playoff berth and improved to a perfect 12-0 in conference play,
with a come from behind victory over SFU. The Flash led by as many as 10
points, and held a 41-35 lead with just under 11 minutes to go. But the Bobcats
would execute a 15-0 run over the course of the next five minutes to pull away
for the win. Felicia Barron led all scorers with 18 points, Jasmine Martin
added 17, and Brittany McQuain recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14
rebounds. QU swept the Red Flash for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
MONMOUTH 51, ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN 47 – On “Play 4 Kay Day” at the MAC, the
Hawks raised money for breast cancer awareness and celebrated a crucial win
over the Terriers. The game would be a tight battle all the way through, featuring
five ties and nine lead changes. Chevy Paalvast led the Hawks with 14 points
and Jessica Kaufman would lead all scorers with 18 points for the Terriers.
MOUNT 50, CCSU 48 – The Mount managed to survive a late
Blue Devil charge and hold on for a 50-48 victory on Saturday afternoon. Mount seemingly
controlled the game, up 50-32 with 7:26 remaining in regulation. However, CCSU
would go on a 15-0 run, getting to within 50-48 on a Jessica Babe basket with
31 seconds left. After Selina Mann missed a free throw, Central would have a
chance to tie, but Jaclyn Babe’s jumper at the buzzer missed the mark. During
the game, the Mountaineers honored 2013 NEC Hall of Fame inductee, Vanessa
Blair.
BRYANT 71, WAGNER 53 – After starting the 2013 conference
season 0-5, the Bulldogs continued to dig themselves out of that early hole and
make a push toward the postseason with a 71-53 victory over Wagner. Bryant has
won five out of their last seven games. Naana Ankoma-Mensa picked up her 14th
double-double of the season, recording 12 points and 15 rebounds. Ankoma-Mensa was
joined in double figures scoring by four other teammates, Katie Whittington
with 12, Danielle Douglas with 11, and Courtney Schissler and Breanna Rucker
who netted 10 points apiece.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 64, LIU BROOKLYN
63 – In a thrilling
finish, the FDU Knights ended a three game slide with a 64-63 win in Brooklyn
over the Blackbirds. With LIU up by two, they were forced into a shot clock
violation turnover with 29.8 seconds remaining. FDU then put the ball in the
hands of Ericka Livermore, who drove to the basket and scored the tying layup
in the process of getting fouled. Livermore would convert the three point play
from the free throw line to give the Knights a one point edge with seven
seconds to spare. With just one second showing on the clock, Amanda Andrades was called for a
foul, but LIU’s Kelly Robinson would miss the front end of a one-and-one to
allow Fairleigh Dickinson to come away with the win. Livermore led all scorers
with 29 points.
NEXT WEEK
Next
Saturday the NEC Women’s Basketball Road Trip returns to the Pitt Center for a
crucial, late season showdown between the top two teams in the NEC, the
Quinnipiac Bobcats and Sacred Heart Pioneers. Earlier this season we were at
the TD Bank Center in Hamden, CT for a Road Trip Blog visit when the Bobcats
came away with a 74-45 victory over their rivals from down the Merritt. Since
then, QU has maintained their unblemished conference record, continuing their march
towards history and solidifying their status amongst some of the greatest NEC
women’s basketball teams of all time. Not to be overlooked, the Pioneers have
found a bunch of momentum as well, perhaps regaining some of their championship
spark from a year ago. SHU has won eight straight, and have taken over sole
possession of second place in the conference standings. The eight game winning
streak is their longest since they became the last team to finish with a
perfect 18-0 NEC regular season record back in 2009. If both teams continue
their streaks into Saturday afternoon, the Bobcats would be playing to clinch
their second regular season title in program history.
In
addition to the top two teams meeting head to head next Saturday, the third and
fourth best teams in the NEC standings will face off as well. The Monmouth
Hawks will travel out to Loretto, PA to visit the St. Francis Red Flash, in a
rematch of a game from January 14th that the Flash won 63-49. The Hawks, a
veteran team who have fallen in the NEC Championship Game each of the last two
seasons, are starting to play exceptionally well at exactly the right time,
winning four out of their last five games and their last three straight. The
Red Flash will be looking forward to finally getting a chance to take their
home court again, as SFU has only played one home game in the month of February
so far. The Flash are 2-3 this month overall, with just a 1-3 record away from
home.
Spots five
through 10 in the NEC standings include six teams separated by just two games.
As the NEC schedule would have it, the six teams occupying those spots will be
paired up against each other next week. Next Saturday afternoon it will be the
Bryant Bulldogs hosting the CCSU Blue Devils, Robert Morris will take on
Fairleigh Dickinson, and Mount St. Mary’s will welcome in St. Francis Brooklyn.
Every one of the remaining games over the last two weeks of the season will be
crucial as only the top eight make the conference tournament.
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