MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – In a battle of the NEC's top two scoring defenses, the Sacred Heart women's basketball team fell victim to a suffocating defensive showing from Robert Morris in a 64-46 loss from the North Athletic Complex on Monday night.

Sacred Heart drops their second straight and now stand 10-9 on the season and 6-2 in NEC play. Robert Morris continues to dominate in league play, moving to 8-0 in the NEC and two games clear of the field that includes the Pioneers who remain in sole possession of second place.

SCORE

Sacred Heart 46 / Robert Morris 64

RECORDS

Sacred Heart (10-9, 6-2 NEC) / Robert Morris (11-8, 8-0 NEC)

LOCATION

North Athletic Complex / Moon Township, PA

SHU STAT LEADERS

• Points: Storck 11, Hagood 10
• Rebounds: Dabney 4
• Assists: Hagood 2
• Steals: Storck 2
• Blocks: Haines 1

First Quarter (14-6 RMU)

• The league's top defense dictated play from the jump as the Colonials limited the Pioneers to 3-for-13 shooting and 0-for-5 from three in the opening 10 minutes
• SHU kept RMU off the three-point line (just 0-for-1 from three in the opening quarter for the Colonials) but points in the paint favored the home team heavily (12-6)

Second Quarter (30-16 RMU)

• Neither team netted a field goal for the first 2:18 of the second quarter as Adrianne Hagood hit a runner to put an end to the extended scoring draught
• SHU scored on consecutive possessions for the first and only time in the first half when Hagood fed Candice Leatherwood at the top of the key who swished a three to cut the gap back down to 18-11
• Just when it seemed SHU started to build some positive momentum, the Colonials went back inside and saw their interior trio of Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu and Neka Ezeigbo combine for eight points in a 12-5 RMU run to end the half
• Much like the first quarter, RMU kept feeding the paint as they again didn't make a three-pointer (0-for-2 from deep) but outscored the Pioneers 12-2 in the paint in the frame

Third Quarter (48-27 RMU)

• After a disappointing first half, it was more of the same for SHU as the Pioneers were held to 18.2 percent (2-for-11) in the quarter while RMU went 5-for-9 (55.6 percent)
• Storck buried a three-pointer early in the frame to cut the deficit to 13 but that was the closest the Pioneers would get to the lead in the second half

Fourth Quarter (64-46 RMU)

• The Pioneers played their best frame of the game, outscoring the Colonials 19-16, but it wasn't enough to make it a game late
• SHU hit all 10 of their free throw attempts in the quarter which accounted for more than half their points in the frame
• Jayla Davis supplied some positive minutes down the stretch, scoring six of her seven points in the final 4:38

NOTES

• Storck hit double figures (11) for the second straight game and led the team in scoring for the sixth time in 19 games this season
• Hagood continues to produce on the offensive end, finishing with 10 points for her seventh double figure scoring output in eight NEC games
• Davis came off the bench and scored seven points which ties her most in a game against an NEC opponent in 2018-19
• Katherine Haines saw her streak of eight straight games hitting double figure points end as the Colonials held the four-time NEC Player of the Week to just seven points on 2-for-10 shooting
• After being outrebounded 45-23 in a loss to Saint Francis U on Saturday, the Pioneers again lost the rebounding battle by a wide margin (39-25, -14) to the Colonials tonight
• Points in the paint was a key stat all evening and ended with RMU outscoring SHU 36-14 in the painted area for the night

UPCOMING GAME

With their longest trek of the season now behind them, the Pioneers return home for a season-long three-game homestand beginning with a Saturday afternoon (1 PM) matchup against St. Francis Brooklyn. The first meeting between these sides saw SHU come away with a 68-66 victory in Brooklyn that featured a triple-double from Haines (25 points, 15 rebounds, 11 blocks).