Box Score
Fairfield, Conn. - The Long Island University women's basketball team used a strong all-around effort to upend first-place Sacred Heart, 66-56, at the Pitt Center. Three Blackbirds scored in double figures as Long Island used a flustering defense, a strong shooting performance and a gritty rebounding presence to defeat the Pioneers convincingly. Junior Chelsi Johnson turned in her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

 

Long Island (15-9, 9-4 Northeast Conference) played a near-perfect first half, flustering the Pioneers (18-6, 11-2) with a series of double teams at the top of the key and using a pair of early scoring bursts to build a double-digit lead. Sophomore Kiara Evans kicked off a 9-0 run with a layup that tied the score at 9-9 before junior Heidi Mothershead drained a three to give the Blackbirds a lead. After Evans hit another bucket, sophomore Ashley Palmer put back a Mothershead miss to give Long Island a 16-9 lead.

 

Sacred Heart's Alisa Apo stopped the run with a three-pointer then immediately pilfered the ball in the backcourt and scored on an easy layup. The Blackbirds responded confidently from the potential momentum-changer with four straight layups, with three coming in transition on fast breaks. After freshman Krystal Wells completed an old-fashioned three-point play, Long Island led 25-14. The Pioneers would cut their deficit to seven points, but the Blackbirds battled right back and, after successive layups from senior Connie James in the final two minutes of the half, took a 35-23 lead into the break.

 

Long Island kept up the strong play in the second stanza, increasing its lead to 16 points when James hit a jumper to make it 50-34 with 14 minutes to play. The Pioneers trimmed it to single digits when Maggie Cosgrove hit a three-pointer and Callan Taylor converted a pair of free throws to make it a 56-47 game. After a Palmer free throw, Evans found Johnson on a back-door cut to give the Blackbirds a little breathing room. Sacred Heart's Kiley Evans answered with a basket of her own on a back-door cut and things appeared to be turning in the Pioneers favor.

 

James was whistled for traveling and the Pioneers' Evans scored to pull her team within 51-49 before Johnson stepped up for Long Island. The 6-foot forward got the ball at the top of the key, thought about a three, hesitated, and then knocked dow n the trifecta to inflate the visitors' cushion to 11.

 

Sacred Heart would pull within 10 points on a Taylor free throw, but that would be as close as the Pioneers would get as the game ground to an anticlimactic finish. Johnson was on the receiving end of a length-of-the-court, football-style inbounds pass from Palmer, going the distance for a layup to make it 66-54 with just over four minutes left. Apo then hit a jumper a minute later but that would be the last time either team would score, with the Blackbirds holding on for the double-digit win.

 

Palmer finished with 15 points and eight rebounds as Long Island shot 52 percent from the floor. James added 10 points and Evans turned in nine points, nine assists and seven boards. Sacred Heart shot 43 percent and was led by a game-high 20 points from Apo. Taylor and Evans each netted 12 points. The Blackbirds won the battle of the boards by a 39-22 margin.

 

Long Island will continue its two-game Connecticut road swing with a visit to Quinnipiac on Saturday, Feb. 13 at noon.