FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team is set for non-conference tilt at Iona on Sunday, Dec. 10. The opening tip between the Pioneers and Gaels is slated for noon at the Hynes Athletics Center in New Rochelle, N.Y.

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OPENING TIP

• The Pioneers and Gaels will meet for the 12th time in the two teams' all-time histories on Sunday afternoon.
• Sacred Heart enters Sunday's bout off of a 57-48 victory over NJIT on Wednesday afternoon.
• Following a hard-fought first half, the Pioneers started to pull away in the second half before securing the nine-point home win.
• SHU's suffocating defense was critical to the win, with the team forcing 23 Highlander turnovers.
• Ny'Ceara Pryor led the way with four steals, while Sierra Johnson had two.
• Pryor also paced SHU offensively with 20 points, scoring 17 in the second half.
• Nalyce Dudley was second on the team with 12 points, her third consecutive double-digit scoring effort and her fourth overall this season.
• Johnson was the last Pioneer to cross double-figures with a season-best 11 points.
• SHU's efforts on the glass were balanced, as four Pios tallied 5+ rebounds. Pryor, Dudley and Amelia Wood all had six boards, while Johnson finished with five. 

DUAL-THREAT
With 20 points against the Highlanders on Wednesday, Pryor scored 20+ in three straight games and four of the last five. The sophomore guard from Baltimore is up to a NEC-best 17.6 points per game this season, which ranks 66th in the country. A lot of Pryor's damage has come at the free throw line, where she is fifth in all of Division I in makes and attempts. On the other end of the court, Pryor continues to be one of the fiercest defenders in the country, as she ranks 11th in the nation with 28 steals and 37th with 2.8 steals per game. She tallied 3+ steals in each of the last four games, with two being five-steal outings.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
Through the first 10 games this season, SHU has done a stellar job of winning the turnover battle. The Pioneers rank 55th in the country and lead the NEC by committing just 14.0 turnovers per game, 1.3 less than the second-place team. Sacred Heart also leads the conference in turnover margin (2.80) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.73). Pryor leads the charge by pacing the league with 40 assists and 4.0 assists per game while ranking second with a 1.82 assists/turnover ratio.

MILESTONE WATCH
SHU's second-leading scorer, Bonner (11.1 ppg), is getting closer and closer to reaching 1,000 points in her illustrious career. The Cliffwood, N.J. native has played the last two seasons at Sacred Heart after spending her first three collegiate campaigns at nearby Quinnipiac. Bonner is up to 966 points in her career heading into Sunday, 452 of those coming as a Pioneer. 

SCOUTING THE GAELS 
The Gaels are riding a three-game win streak into Sunday's contest, last defeating Hofstra 59-54 on Thursday evening. Iona dominated the first three quarters of Thursday's game, owning a 51-35 lead early in the fourth before the Pride rallied to make it a five-point defeat. The Gaels have played a pair of NEC teams in the early season, with double-digit wins over LIU and Wagner. Iona is led offensively by two graduate students, as Sierra DeAngelo (13.7) and Natalia Otkhmezuri (12.4) are the only two players on the team averaging 10+ points. DeAngelo also leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game and has been named MAAC Player of the Week twice already this season. DeAngelo is no stranger to the Pioneers, as she transferred to Iona from NEC foe FDU this season. She is joined by fellow former Knight Ella Fajardo, who is averaging 9.0 points this year.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. IONA
The Pioneers and Gaels will meet for the 12th time on Sunday, with Iona holding an 8-3 lead in the all-time series. The Gaels won the last two games in the series, with SHU's most recent victory being an 82-80 triumph in 2014 in New Rochelle, N.Y. The Pios have held their own in five road games against Iona, as Sacred Heart is 2-3 all-time when traveling to the Gaels' house.