FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Sacred Heart defeated Mount St. Mary's 72-54 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Jessie Kaufman (Damascus, Md./Damascus) paced the Mount (8-12, 4-5 NEC) with 10 points in her first start of the season. Rachel Mathews (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) added nine points while Selina Mann (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) tallied 10 rebounds, five points, five assists and three steals in the loss.

Kiley Evans fueled the Pioneers (15-5, 8-1 NEC) with a season-high 19 points. Callan Taylor registered 18 points and 12 rebounds while Blair Koniszewski chipped in 12 points in the winning effort.

Mount St. Mary's got off to a hot start, but Sacred Heart took the lead midway through the first half and never looked back to improve to 14-0 at the Pitt Center against the Mount.

After Mount St. Mary's started the game by scoring eight of the first 10 points, Sacred Heart rolled off 21 of the next 25 points to grab a 23-12 lead with 7:37 left in the first half.

Koniszewski and Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) traded baskets before the Pioneers scored the next 14 points. Taylor started the surge with a 3-pointer at 14:25 before Ericka Norman, Taylor and Morgan Merriman each scored in the paint to give Sacred Heart a 13-10 edge with 12:24 left in the half. Koniszewski then drained a 3-pointer at 11:31 and Bland scored in the lane at 10:05 for an 18-10 advantage.

Grossett halted the 14-0 run with a layup at 9:13, but Evans scored five unanswered points to give the Pioneers their first double-digit lead of the day.

Sacred Heart increased the margin to 31-17 before the Mountaineers scored six-straight points to make it an eight-point game. Grossett made the backend of two free throws at 3:28, Kelly Guerriero (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) converted two at the line at 3:04 and Andresson nailed a trey at 2:26 to trim the deficit to 31-23.

Evans closed the half with another 5-0 run to give the Pioneers a 36-23 advantage going into the locker room.

In the second half with Sacred Heart holding a 44-24 lead, the Mountaineers rolled off the next 11 points to trim the margin to 44-35 with 14:17 left.

Sydney Henderson (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) started the run with a layup at 17:34 before Ashley Christie (Miamisburg, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) nailed a trey at 16:54. Kaufman then scored four of the next six points with a Mathews' basket sandwiched in between to make it a nine-point game. The Pioneers would score 15 of the next 17 points and the Mount could get no closer the rest of the way.

Mount St. Mary's started the game on an 8-2 surge. After Taylor got the scoring started with a jumper at 19:03, the Mount scored the next eight points.

Henderson opened the run with a free throw at 18:15 before Kaufman scored consecutive baskets for a 5-2 edge with 16:56 left in the first half. Mann capped the surge with a triple at 16:33 for an 8-2 lead, but Sacred Heart went on a 21-4 run to take the lead for good.

Mann, a 5-4 guard, hauled in 10 rebounds for the second time this season and for the third time in her career. Henderson finished the game with eight points to end her string of eight-consecutive games in double figures. Andresson added seven points off the bench.

Assistant coach Denise King handled the head coaching duties for the Mountaineers while head coach Bryan Whitten took care of some family matters.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Monday at Quinnipiac. Game time is 7 p.m.