W. Hoops claims NEC regular season title
Matt Jarvis
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Sports
The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team captured the Northeast Conference regular season championship after defeating the Monmouth University Hawks, 70-50, on Feb. 21 at the William H. Pitt Center.
The win also improved the Pioneers' record to 19-7 overall and 16-0 in the NEC. The Pioneers also tied the school record for conference wins with 16 and extended their winning streak to 15.
"It definitely feels good to be 16-0, but more so because we secured the regular season NEC championship," said sophomore Maggie Cosgrove. "I think we have done a good job of taking it one game at a time and focusing on our goals of winning the conference championship instead of focusing on our record."
Monmouth came out swinging in the opening minutes of the first half on Saturday behind back-to -back 3-pointers by Monmouth seniors Marbely Montas and Jennifer Bender, giving the Hawks a 6-4 lead. This was Monmouth's only lead of the game as they simply did not have an answer to combat the Pioneers' heavy pressure throughout the game.
"I think one of our biggest advantages over Monmouth was our attitude going into the game," said Sowinski. "We realize that every game is critical at this point and never think for one second that there's no chance of us losing. It also didn't hurt that Monmouth came into our game raging and screaming and yelling acting like they had already won. That's just the fuel our team feeds off of to get the adrenaline pumping."
Sowinski sunk a pair of free throws to tie the score 6-6 then a steal and jump shot by senior Stephanie Ryan began a 19-2 run by the Pioneers. Cosgrove, freshman Callan Taylor and senior Khalia Cain all knocked down 3-pointers during the spurt and with ten minutes to play in the first half, the score was 23-8 in favor of Sacred Heart.
Sacred Heart continued to dominate the first half by only allowing Monmouth two layups while a layup and free throw by sophomore Alisa Apo as well as two free throws by Sowinski kept the Pioneers ahead 28-14. However, a foul against Sowinski forced her to the bench and gave the Hawks two points on free throws followed by a layup from Bender which tightened Sacred Heart's lead to 28-18.
The win also improved the Pioneers' record to 19-7 overall and 16-0 in the NEC. The Pioneers also tied the school record for conference wins with 16 and extended their winning streak to 15.
"It definitely feels good to be 16-0, but more so because we secured the regular season NEC championship," said sophomore Maggie Cosgrove. "I think we have done a good job of taking it one game at a time and focusing on our goals of winning the conference championship instead of focusing on our record."
Monmouth came out swinging in the opening minutes of the first half on Saturday behind back-to -back 3-pointers by Monmouth seniors Marbely Montas and Jennifer Bender, giving the Hawks a 6-4 lead. This was Monmouth's only lead of the game as they simply did not have an answer to combat the Pioneers' heavy pressure throughout the game.
"I think one of our biggest advantages over Monmouth was our attitude going into the game," said Sowinski. "We realize that every game is critical at this point and never think for one second that there's no chance of us losing. It also didn't hurt that Monmouth came into our game raging and screaming and yelling acting like they had already won. That's just the fuel our team feeds off of to get the adrenaline pumping."
Sowinski sunk a pair of free throws to tie the score 6-6 then a steal and jump shot by senior Stephanie Ryan began a 19-2 run by the Pioneers. Cosgrove, freshman Callan Taylor and senior Khalia Cain all knocked down 3-pointers during the spurt and with ten minutes to play in the first half, the score was 23-8 in favor of Sacred Heart.
Sacred Heart continued to dominate the first half by only allowing Monmouth two layups while a layup and free throw by sophomore Alisa Apo as well as two free throws by Sowinski kept the Pioneers ahead 28-14. However, a foul against Sowinski forced her to the bench and gave the Hawks two points on free throws followed by a layup from Bender which tightened Sacred Heart's lead to 28-18.
Be the first to comment on this story