Women’s Basketball Pulls Away From Sacred Heart, 57-48, for 10th Consecutive Win

(boxscore)

1/29/07 -- The Long Island University women’s basketball team used a 16-4 second-half run to pull away from Sacred Heart and extend its school-record winning streak to 10 games. The Blackbirds battled hard on the boards and used red-hot shooting from beyond the three-point arc to defeat the Pioneers, 57-48, at the Pitt Center. The win gives Long Island a 10-1 mark in Northeast Conference play (17-5 overall), while the Pioneers fall to 8-2 (13-8).

The game was knotted up at 24-24 after a sloppy first half that saw the teams combine for 26 turnovers. Reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Valerie Nainima (Suva, Fiji) played just five first-half minutes after picking up a pair of quick fouls. Returning to the game after the break, Nainima fired off a quick three-pointer to reestablish her presence on the court.

The teams traded baskets to tie the game once again at 32-32, then senior Sara Oblak (Skofja Loka, Slovenia) hit a jumper to kick off the Blackbirds’ run. Fellow senior Sonya Coleman (Toledo, Ohio) followed with a layup and junior Mikaelar Whippy (Suva, Fiji) added a jumper to put Long Island up by six. After Sacred Heart’s Jasmine Walker got her team back within four points, Nainima drained her third trifecta of the game. By the time Whippy added a three-pointer of her own to cap the run, Long Island held a 12-point edge.

The Blackbirds played deliberately and milked the shot clock to hold off a Sacred Heart charge. The Pioneers would get within seven points with just under six minutes to play, but Whippy coolly knocked down another three to squelch the Sacred Heart uprising. The Fijian duo of Whippy and Nainima combined to shoot 6-for-9 from three-point land, finishing with three treys each.

Whippy tied for a game-high with 19 points, while Nainima chimed in with 14 points despite playing just 23 minutes. Sacred Heart’s Jasmine Walker wreaked havoc in the paint, netting 19 points on 9-for-10 shooting. Kaitlin Sowinski added 14 points for the Pioneers. Coleman played stingy defense to limit the NEC’s leading scorer Amanda Pape to just 11 points.

Led by nine rebounds from freshman Connie James (Galloway, N.J.), Long Island won the battle of the boards, 34-27.Walker grabbed nine rebounds to pace Sacred Heart. The Blackbirds shot 42 percent from the floor and a molten 67 percent from long range. The Pioneers converted 41 percent of their shots, but shot just nine percent from three.

The 17th win is the most for Long Island since the Blackbirds won 18 games in the 2001-02 season.

The Blackbirds will return home for the first game of a four-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 3, when Wagner visits the Wellness Center for a 2:00 p.m. tip.