FAIRFIELD, CONN.- The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team fell to Northeast Conference leading Sacred Heart, 66-48, Saturday afternoon at the Pitt Center. Senior
Shanovia Dove scored a team-high 15 points, and freshman
Aja Boyd tallied 14 points and seven rebounds. The Blackbirds move to 3-17 overall and 2-7 in NEC play with the defeat.
LIU used baskets from Boyd, freshman
Gabrielle Caponegro, and junior
Stylz Sanders to open up an early 6-2 lead. The Pioneers (11-9, 8-1 NEC) answered with a 9-2 run, eight of which were scored by Hannah Kimmel, to go ahead 11-8. Dove made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 11-10, but Katherine Haines, who finished the day with 16 points and 12 rebounds, made a layup in the final seconds of the quarter to increase Sacred Heart's lead to 13-10.
Sacred Heart started the second quarter on an 8-0 run. Kimmel, who scored a game-high 20 points and registered 11 rebounds, scored four points during the rally. With the Blackbirds trailing 22-12, Dove scored seven of the game's next eight points to cut the Pioneers' lead to 23-19. The home team brought a 26-21 lead into the half.
The Pioneers, who shot 6-12 from three in the second half, used their long-range game to open up their lead coming out of the break. Sacred Heart hit four triples in the third frame to take a 48-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.
SHU extended the lead to 55-35 early in the final period. LIU would respond with a basket by redshirt sophomore
Drew Winter and a three-point play by Boyd to cut the lead to 55-40. But that was as close as it would get, as the Pioneers answered any attempt the Blackbirds made at a run, taking the win, 66-48.
NOTES FROM THE NEST
- Shanovia Dove led LIU with 15 points, including going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
- Freshman Aja Boyd had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for the Blackbirds. Stylz Sanders added six points and four rebounds, while freshman Gabrielle Caponegro had four points and five rebounds.
- The Blackbirds continue their two-game road swing against Central Connecticut State Monday, January 30; tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.