2008 Woodie Awards
Q Who?
Mike Barrett
Issue date: 3/19/06 Section: Sports
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The NEC Player of the Year Amanda Pape, a junior from Stamford, led the Pioneers with 25 points and 14 rebounds and was awarded the tournament's most valuable player award.
The win in front of a record crowd of 1,406 completed a perfect season at home for the Pioneers and also qualifies them for the NCAA tournament for the first time in the team's history. Sacred Heart finishes the season with a 26-4 record.
It will travel to play Pennsylvania Sunday as the 15th seed to face the number two University of Maryland in the national Division One tournament. Time is to be determined.
The number one seeded Pioneers cruised through the opening rounds of the NEC tournament with ease thanks to the combined efforts of captains Pape and Nicolle Rubino, a senior from Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.
A first round win over Fairleigh Dickinson, followed by a win over Long Island, set the stage for the championship game against the number two seeded Bobcats. The Pioneers and Bobcats split their two regular season games against each other. The last meeting resulted in an 86-74 Pioneer win, which gave the team the number one overall seed.
The game started out with Quinnipiac controlling most of the momentum against the Pioneers, using a full court press that didn't allow Sacred Heart to get much offense going. The Bobcats took an early lead, led by freshman Erin Kerner of Erie, Pa.
The Pioneers responded by evening the score at 13 a piece and used a 6-0 run, capped of by a clutch Lisa Moray three pointer, that gave Sacred Heart a 19-13 advantage. The three was one of two that Moray, a sophomore from Hopewell Junction N.Y., hit in the game to elevate the Pioneers past the Bobcats.
"Lisa is a great player who takes every shot with a great deal of confidence, and it has made her a great asset to this team," coach Ed Swanson said.
However, Moray's three pointer would soon be overshadowed by Quinnipiac's 13 straight unanswered points, which gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the half, by a score of 26-19 with 5:35 left in the half.