Women's Basketball Suffers 68-51 Loss to Sacred Heart

(boxscore)

2/5/05 -- Long Island ran into red-hot shooting Sacred Heart, allowing it to connect on 58 percent from the floor in a 68-51 Northeast Conference loss at Schwartz Center.

Junior Erin Pinchbeck (Albany, N.Y.) and sophomore Anna Dziadkowiec (Krakow, Poland) scored eight points apiece off the bench and junior Goska Radwan (Stalowa Vola, Poland) grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for the Blackbirds (9-12, 5-7 NEC). Radwan’s previous career best was eight rebounds December 9, 2003 at Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Pioneers (12-8, 9-2) scored 14 straight points to take a 14-3 lead with 15:21 left in the opening half thanks to five from Nicolle Rubino. Down 20-6, the Blackbirds scored seven straight points with five coming from sophomore Kelli Sawyer (Philadelphia, Pa.) to close to seven with 8:59 remaining.

But Sacred Heart answered with a 15-2 spurt for a 35-15 lead with 2:19 to play. Amanda Pape scored five points in the run and Colleen White added four. Kerri Burke netted 10 points in the first half for the Pioneers, who shot 59 percent (16-of-27) from the floor and 5-of-8 from 3-point range for a 33-19 advantage.

LIU hit just 27 percent (7-of-26) in the opening half and 1-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Sacred Heart, which shot 28-of-48 overall from the floor, led by as many as 24 in the second half. Pape closed with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Rubino poured in 15 points, Burke tossed in 13 and White added 10 and eight rebounds.

The Blackbirds shot only 31 percent (16-of-52) from the field and 60 percent (12-of-20) from the line for their fourth straight loss.

Junior Amber Wirth (Hastings, Minn.) scored five points and has 850 career, moving past Coleen McGlynn (1988-92) into 14th place on the school’s all-time scoring list.

LIU does not play again until Saturday, when it hosts Quinnipiac beginning at 2:00 pm.