FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Sacred Heart defeated Mount St. Mary's 67-56
in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on
Saturday.
Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) paced the Mount (5-9,
1-3 NEC) with 16 points while Leah Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland/Holy
Faith Secondary) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points
and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Maggie Cosgrove fueled the Pioneers (11-4, 4-0 NEC) with 21
points. Callan Taylor added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Alisa Apo
added 18 points in the winning effort.
Mount St. Mary's rallied twice in the second half to tie the
score, but Sacred Heart answered each time and went on for their
24th-straight league victory.
After Mount St. Mary's rallied to tie the game at 42, Morgan
Merriman gave the Pioneers the lead they would not relinquish on a
layup with 11:07 left. Taylor then hit a jumper to extend the lead
to four points at the 10-minute mark.
Sydney Henderson (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) answered with a
jumper 17 seconds later, but Cosgrove nailed a 3-pointer as the
shot clock expired and Taylor hit two free throws to give Sacred
Heart a 51-44 advantage with 8:47 on the clock.
The Mountaineers then mounted a comeback with six unanswered
points. Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) started
the spurt by hitting the front end of two charity tosses at 8:08.
Lauren Howell (Quinton, N.J./Sacred Heart) then hit a 3-ball and
Westbrooks scored in the paint to trim the margin to 51-50 with
7:18 left.
Taylor answered with 1 of 2 at the line and then Apo took over
by scoring 10 of the Pioneers final 15 points to power the
Fairfield program to the win.
Sacred Heart jumped out to an 11-6 advantage thanks to four
points by Taylor. After Cassie Cooke (Westminster, Md./Winters
Mill) and Cosgrove traded 3-pointers, the Mount rolled off the next
eight points to grab a 17-14 lead with 9:04 left.
Dunn started the surge with consecutive baskets to hand the
Mount a 15-14 edge at 12:28. Cooke scored in the lane before Dunn
capped the spurt with a jumper at 9:04. Taylor momentarily halted
the Mount's run on a layup, but Courtney Nyce (Schwenksville,
Pa./Perkiomen Valley) and Henderson both scored in the paint to
give the Mountaineers a 21-16 lead with 6:40 remaining.
Taylor and Westbrooks then traded baskets before Sacred Heart
closed out the final two minutes and 27 seconds with a 9-0 run to
take a 27-23 advantage going into the locker room.
After Merriman started the run with a jumper at 2:27, Apo hit
the front end of two free throws at 1:42. Cosgrove gave the
Pioneers a 24-23 margin on a 3-ball with 25 seconds left before Apo
drilled a trey as time expired for the four-point advantage.
Mount St. Mary's came out of the intermission to score 12 of the
first 20 points of the second half to knot the game at 35. Dunn had
six points in the surge.
Merriman then converted a traditional 3-point play at 13:10 and
Apo scored in the lane to give Sacred Heart a 40-35 lead at the
13-minute mark. The Mount answered after Andresson hit the front
end of two at the line and Henderson drilled a 3-pointer at 12:39
to cut the deficit to 40-39.
After Taylor scored on a layup at 12:14, the Mount mounted
another comeback when Westbrooks hit the first of two charity
tosses and Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) tied the game
at 42 with a jumper at 11:18. Sacred Heart then took the lead and
never looked back to earn its 12th win against the Mountaineers at
the Pitt Center.
Mount St. Mary's returns home for the first time since Nov. 28
with its NEC home opener against St. Francis (N.Y.) on Thursday.
Game time is 5 p.m.
