STOP #6: William H. Pitt Center, Fairfield, CT
Saturday, February 16, 2013 – 1pm
Robert Morris Colonials (7-16, 6-6) at Sacred Heart Pioneers (16-7, 8-3)
After a week in which winter storm Nemo wreaked
havoc on the NEC women’s basketball schedule, our 2013 Road Trip resumes on
Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center for a matchup between the
reigning champion, Sacred Heart Pioneers, and the Robert Morris Colonials.
Despite going eight days in between games, the weather postponements didn’t
cool off the Pioneers current hot streak on Tuesday night against FDU. After
starting 1-3 in conference play, the champs have won their last seven straight
games to sit at 8-3, good for second place in the current standings. Come tournament time, the
Pioneers haven’t ever finished lower than third place during their entire 13
year stay in the Northeast Conference. The Robert Morris Colonials have been to
the postseason eight straight seasons, and have been in the tournament
semi-finals the last two and seven out of the last eight years. Even after losing multiple starters
from last year’s team, and having several key players go down due to injury, Coach
Sal Buscaglia has the Colonials right in the thick of the 2013 playoff race.
RMU is 6-6 and currently tied with Mount for sixth place. After a 2-4 start in
conference play, the Colonials have won four out of their last six games.
PRE-GAME NOTES
ALL
TIME SERIES
Sacred
Heart leads the all-time series 18-7. The Pioneers have won five straight and
seven out of the last eight encounters. RMU’s last victory in the series was a
71-48 win in February 2010. These two teams met in Moon Township back on
January 21st, with SHU earning a hard fought, come from behind victory. RMU
held the lead for the majority of the game, and was able to increase the margin
up to as many as 10 points in the second half. From the 7:42 mark, SHU finished
the game on a 20-6 run, sealing a 70-66 win. Morgan Merriman led Sacred Heart
with 20 points, while RMU’s Artemis Spanou became the school’s all-time
double-doubles leader with her 46th career double-double. Spanou would finish
with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the defeat.
These two
teams matched up twice at the Pitt Center in 2012. First, they would tangle in
the final game of the regular season with the Pioneers playing for the regular
season championship. With the Pioneers down three, then-freshman Gaby
Washington connected on a three at the regulation buzzer from the right corner
to send the game into overtime. In the bonus session, SHU would outscore the
Colonials 13-9 to stake a 70-66 victory and claim their program’s fourth
regular season title. Just eight days later, their paths would cross again in
the NEC Tournament semi-finals, with a trip to the championship game on the
line. Sacred Heart would advance to their fourth final, battling their way to a
61-56 victory. Four Pioneers finished in double figures scoring as Gaby
Washington netted 18 points, Alexis Campbell scored 13, tournament MVP Erika Norman provided
11, and Player of the Year Callan Taylor added 12.
Including
last season’s semi-final showdown, the two schools have faced off three times in
the NEC Tournament, with RMU winning two out of the three. The most notable playoff
matchup occurred in March of 2007 when they played in the NEC Championship
Game. Jenna Burkett converted one of two free throws with 13 seconds left to
put Robert Morris ahead 68-66. After Coach Swanson called a timeout with 4.5 seconds
remaining to draw up one final play, Amanda Pape missed a runner in the lane that
would have sent the game into overtime. The Colonials would win the game, their
third championship, and for the first time, go on to represent the NEC in the
NCAA tournament. In the past seven seasons, Sacred Heart and Robert Morris have combined to win five out of the last seven NEC Tournament titles.
TALE OF
THE TAPE
Scoring
Offense: SHU (3rd – 60.6), RMU (9th – 56.5)
Scoring
Defense: SHU (1st – 56.0), RMU (7th – 63.1)
Field Goal
%: SHU (7th - .380), RMU (10th - .355)
Field Goal
% Defense: SHU (3rd - .371), RMU (10th - .395)
3 point
Field Goal %: SHU (7th - .302), RMU (3rd - .323)
ABOUT
THE PIONEERS
After an
eight day layoff, the Sacred Heart Pioneers finally returned to the hardwood on
Tuesday night, extending their win streak to seven games with an 80-48 victory
over Fairleigh Dickinson. With the win, Pioneer head coach (and reigning NEC Brenda
Reilly Coach of the Year) Ed Swanson, collected career victory number 400.
Swanson, who won his 300th game back in December of 2008, has been at the helm
for 23 years at Sacred Heart and has led the program to three NEC championships. The
Pioneers have been led in scoring by a different player in each of the last
three games. On Tuesday against FDU, it would be senior Kiley Evans chipping in
21 points to pace the squad. Teammates, Gaby Washington with 14, and Morgan
Merriman with 10, would also finish in double figures scoring.
The
Pioneers current seven game win streak is their longest in program history
since they went a perfect 18-0 during the 2009 conference season. That year Sacred Heart
would go on to record a program record 21 straight wins overall en route to the
NCAA Tournament. This season, the Pioneers started conference play by dropping
three out of their first four games, including a 29 point loss at Quinnipiac
and an overtime loss to CCSU. Since their loss in New Britain to the Blue
Devils back on January 14th, the Pioneers have not tasted defeat. The streak
started with an impressive sweep of the Pennsylvania road trip. SHU handed the Red Flash
their first NEC loss of the year with a 71-50 win in front of the NEC TV cameras, and then followed
up with a come from behind win against the Colonials.
ABOUT
THE COLONIALS
The Colonials
2012-13 season has been one of their most hectic seasons in recent memory. The
team started the year with only one returning starter, and facing a daunting
non-conference schedule. RMU started 0-10, the longest winless drought to start a
season in Coach Sal Buscaglia’s tenure, which includes their 3-24 season in
2003-04. Prior to the opener, projected starting center Jolie Olingende was
lost for the year due to an injury. Then in early December, senior point guard Jasmine
Tate was lost for the season with a knee injury. More recently, freshman
standout Lou Mataly injured her knee against St. Francis in late January, and
hasn’t played in the last four games. Freshman Randi Jackson has done a solid
job in the starting lineup this season, filling in for Tate, averaging four
assists over the last seven games. Kelly Hartwell has been called on to fill in
for Mataly, and the junior guard has responded, averaging 11 points and 6.7
rebounds over the last three contests. Robert Morris has won three out of their
last four games and four out of their last six to sit at sixth place, with a 6-6 record
in conference play with six games to go.
Last
Monday the Colonials avenged an early season loss to their arch-rivals, St.
Francis, with a 67-53 victory at home. The Colonials led
throughout, taking advantage early of 16 St. Francis first half turnovers to
build up a 33-20 halftime lead. Italian freshman Ashley Ravelli poured in a
career high 22 points on 6 for 17 shooting from the floor. Junior Artemis
Spanou completed her 18th straight double-double with 18 points and 15
rebounds.
For her
efforts last weekend, Artemis Spanou was named as the Choice Hotels NEC Player
of the Week. Spanou has recorded 18 straight double-doubles and is the school’s
all-time double-double leader with 51. The Greek Goddess has taken over the NEC lead in scoring with 18.9 points per game, and leads the entire nation with 15 rebounds per
contest. She enters the weekend with 978 career rebounds, just 22 shy of
becoming a 1,000 point/1,000 rebound player for RMU.
ODDS
& ENDS
Sacred
Heart is 9-1 at the Pitt Center in 2012-13, and 24-2 at home since the start of
last season…The Pioneers have had four different players earn Choice Hotels NEC
Player of the Week honors this season: Morgan Merriman (11/26), Ericka Norman
(1/22), Kiley Evans (1/29), and Blair Koniszewski (2/5). Ironically, the
Pioneers leading scorer Gaby Washington (who has scored in double figures in
points in all but two games this season), has not yet won a Player of the Week
award. Washington ranks fourth in the NEC in scoring, averaging 15.8 points
per game…Ericka Norman, the 2012 NEC Tournament Most Valuable Player, is a
crucial element to the Pioneers current seven game streak. Against SFU, the
junior guard sparked Sacred Heart by flirting with a quadruple double, recording
16 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 7 steals. The Chino Hills, CA native
currently leads the entire NEC in assists with 166, and steals with 89…Saturday
the Pioneers will celebrate “Think Pink Day” for breast cancer awareness. SHU
will be wearing pink warm-up shirts and pink shoelaces to raise awareness for
the cause.
Four of
the five RMU starters and five of the 10 on the Colonials roster were born
overseas…Anna Gailite is the tallest player in RMU program history, and is
second in program history in career blocks…The Colonials have qualified for
eight straight NEC tournaments. RMU won back to back tournament titles in 2006
and 2007….Junior Artemis Spanou is 266 points shy of becoming the Colonials all-time
leading scorer, and 142 rebounds shy of becoming the school’s all-time leading
rebounder…Hampered by injuries early in the season, the Colonials found some
help for their short bench within their own athletics program. Three year
softball letterwinner Britta Grafton joined the Colonials basketball team with
about a week remaining in the fall semester. The senior from Jamestown, PA is back
on the hardwood for the first time since her senior year at Jamestown High
School. Grafton, who hit .250 with 10 runs batted in last year in softball, has
appeared in five basketball games this year, including seeing time in each of
the last two games.
AROUND
THE NEC
Mount St.
Mary’s hosts Central Connecticut State on Saturday in a contest packed with
playoff implications. Northeast Conference TV cameras will be there to capture
the action with Paul Dottino and Phyllis Mangina on the call. The game will air
live at 3pm on ESPN3 and Cox Sports, and on tape delay on FCS. Mountaineers
all-time great, Vanessa Blair will be recognized during the broadcast for her
induction into the NEC Hall of Fame Class of 2013. Blair, a two time NEC Player
of the Year and a former NEC Coach of the Year, was a crucial part of the
foundation that successfully transitioned the Mount into D1 in the early 90's, and made them
immediate title contenders. Also during the broadcast, a special piece will air
(featuring a voiceover from yours truly) that highlights the growth of NEC
women’s basketball over the years. In just three short seasons, NEC women’s
basketball jumped from 27th in the nation in conference RPI in 2009, to an all-time
best 15th place showing last year.
In Hamden,
the Bobcats put their 11-0, undefeated, conference season on the line against the most
accomplished program conference history, the St. Francis Red Flash. Last time
SFU visited the TD Bank Sports Center they defeated the Bobcats on the final
weekend of the regular season last year, helping deny QU of a regular season
title. This year, not only can QU keep their hopes of the sixth perfect NEC
regular season in history alive, but they can officially clinch a playoff spot for
a 13th straight season, with a victory or a Bryant loss.
Another
intriguing and important matchup on Saturday is a battle between the Monmouth
Hawks and the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers in West Long Branch. The Hawks won
by four points in Brooklyn earlier this season. This time around, playoff
implications loom large as both teams are battling to finish in the top four,
and possibly host a first round playoff game in three weeks when the conference
tournament gets underway. If the season ended now, MU would be the four seed, SFC
would be seeded five, and both teams would be matching up against each other in
the quarter-final round.
Elsewhere,
the Wagner Seahawks will host the Bryant Bulldogs on Staten Island and the LIU
Brooklyn Blackbirds will welcome in the FDU Knights.
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