Box Score
Fairfield, Conn. – Sacred Heart shot a blistering 52.9 percent from the field en route to a 74-59 victory over the LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at the Pitt Center. The Pioneers connected on 27 of their 51 attempts from the field, including nine of their 16 three-point field goal tries to improve to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in Northeast Conference play. The loss drops the Blackbirds to 12-3 on the season and 1-2 in the NEC.
Senior Ashley Palmer led LIU with 23 points, moving her to within three points of the LIU career scoring mark of 1,745 points currently held by Tamika Dudley. Sophomore Cleandra Roberts came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while senior She'tiarra Pledger chipped in with 10 points.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, with Gabrielle Washington scoring the first five points of the game. LIU responded with nine straight, as Palmer tallied seven in the run to give the Blackbirds an 11-8 lead with 12:33 remaining in the opening half.
After a jumper from Roberts bumped LIU Brooklyn's cushion to five at 17-12, back-to-back three-balls from Washington gave Sacred Heart a one-point advantage at 18-17 with 8:19 left in the period. Washington finished the half with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
With the score knotted at 24-all, a three-pointer from Callan Taylor kickstarted a 12-2 run to close out the half and give the Pioneers a 36-27 lead going into halftime. The Pioneers shot 55.6 percent from the floor, and 4-of-7 from deep while the Blackbirds went 12-for-28 from the field (42.9 percent).
Sacred Heart also took advantage of 10 LIU miscues by scoring 14 points, as opposed to the Blackbirds who scored just four points off turnovers in the first half.
The second half saw the Blackbirds cut their deficit to four points on a three-pointer from junior Krystal Wells with 15:05 left. But Washington would answer right back on the next possession, draining a trifecta to regain a 52-45 lead for the home team.
From there, the Pioneers pushed out to a double-figure lead for the majority of the half. LIU got to within eight points on two separate occasions late in the period but could get no closer.
Washington scored 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Ericka Norman also had a strong game for Sacred Heart with 16 points and eight assists.
The Blackbirds continue their two-game road swing on Monday, Jan. 9 with a game at Quinnipiac at 7:00 p.m.