BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team led Sacred Heart by as many as nine points Saturday afternoon in the Steinberg Wellness Center, but couldn't convert it to a win on Senior Day, falling to the Pioneers 51-41. Senior Shanovia Dove led all scorers with 18 points, while freshman Aja Boyd had a double double, with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Prior to the start of the game, the Blackbirds honored the three members of the team graduating this May, and playing in their final game in the Steinberg Wellness Center. Seniors Shanovia Dove and Brianna Farris, along with graduate student Dionne Coe, were recognized for their dedication to the program with a ceremony before tip-off.

The pre-game emotion carried into the game for the Blackbirds, who got off to a strong start. Coe dished it to Boyd a minute into the game for a layup, and LIU led, 2-0. Sacred Heart scored the next six straight points, but two of LIU's seniors stepped up as a part of a 9-0 run. Farris would make back-to-back layups over the course of a minute, and Boyd added one 45 seconds later. Dove would add one as well, as the Blackbirds used the spree to take an 11-6 lead. Dove would add a three with 57 seconds left in the first quarter, and freshman Gabrielle Caponegro had a big put-back layup as the buzzer sounded to give LIU the 16-9 lead after the first period.

Dove had a quick layup in the first minute of the second period to widen LIU's lead to nine points, 18-9, and four minutes later, she hit a jump shot that would make it 21-12. Coe helped keep the lead wide with her layup at 3:19, and again, Caponegro had a last second shot to cap the period in style. The freshman would hit a bank shot off a pass from classmate Autumn Ashe, and LIU led at the half, 27-18.

Though it took some time for the Pioneers to get their offense going at the start of the second half, the visiting team would slowly chip away at LIU's lead. Over the first eight minutes of the third period, SHU would outscore LIU 11-4, cutting the lead to just two points, 31-29 with 2:34 to play. Dove would hit two jump shots a minute apart that helped the Blackbirds widen the lead to four points, but Sacred Heart would stay within striking distance.

The visitors would retake the lead for the first time since the first period at 8:38 in the fourth, when senior Hannah Kimmel hit a three pointer to make it 36-35. Dove would answer 30 seconds later with a three of her own to retake the lead for LIU, but the Pioneers would go on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, taking the lead, 44-38. Boyd would add a layup and a free throw in the next five minutes, but hers were the only points LIU would score in the final eight minutes, as SHU's run widened to 15-3, and the Pioneers took the win, 51-41.

NOTES FROM THE NEST

• With the loss, LIU moves to 4-21 on the season, and 3-11 in the Northeast Conference.
• The Blackbirds were strong on the boards, out-rebounding Sacred Heart 42-31. But LIU struggled to make shots, shooting 33.3 percent from the field, and 30 percent from the free throw line.
• Senior Shanovia Dove finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals.
• Aja Boyd had a double double with 10 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and a block for the Blackbirds.
• Up next, the Blackbirds travel down the street to take on local rival St. Francis Brooklyn Monday, February 20 at 1 p.m.