FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Sacred Heart defeated Mount St. Mary's 76-51 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball opener on Monday.

Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) led the Mount (1-9, 0-1 NEC) with 12 points while Ashley Christie (Miamisburg, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) added 11 points in the loss.

Callan Taylor paced the Pioneers (6-4, 1-0 NEC) with 21 points and nine rebounds. Morgan Merriman recorded 12 points and Alisa Apo chipped in 11 points in the winning effort.

Sacred Heart used a strong finish to the first half and continued its success to start the second half to take the lead and never look back to improve to 20-4 against Mount St. Mary's, including 13-0 at the William H. Pitt Center.

With the score tied at 13, the Pioneers went on a 14-2 run to take the lead it would not relinquish. Taylor started the run with six-straight points thanks to a 3-pointer at 8:35 and a traditional 3-point play at 8:28 to give Sacred Heart a 19-13 advantage.

Kayla Grossett (Toronto, Ontario/David and Mary Thompson C.I.) momentarily halted the surge with a jumper before the Pioneers rolled off the next eight points to grab a 27-15 advantage. Apo started the unanswered spurt with her first points of the night on a 3-ball at 6:58 before Kiley Evans scored in the paint at 6:41. After Apo scored in the lane at 6:22, Enjoli Brand converted the backend of two free throws at 5:44 to give the Pioneers a 12-point lead.

Mount St. Mary's then scored five of the next seven points to trim the margin to 29-20. Tara Lonergan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) and Taylor traded baskets before Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia) nailed a 3-pointer at 4:34 to cut the margin to single digits, but Maggie Cosgrove nailed a trey of her own at 3:05 and the Pioneers maintained a double-digit lead going into the locker room at 37-24.

Dunn scored the first basket of the second half to make the score 37-26, but Sacred Heart then went on a 11-0 run to grab a 20-point advantage and went on for its sixth-straight win against the Mount. Taylor keyed the run with six points.

The first 10 minutes of the first half saw seven lead changes and four ties. The Mountaineers held a two-point advantage twice and a one-point margin once in that stretch.

The Mount has lost its last five NEC openers and lost to the Pioneers for the second time in the inaugural league game of the year.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Dec. 29 when the squad makes its first-ever trip to California against San Jose State. Game time is 10 p.m.