FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's basketball team won its 10th consecutive game on Thursday, rolling to a 78-49 home victory over Northeast Conference (NEC) foe Stonehill at the Pitt Center. 

The Pioneers were led tonight by outstanding sophomore guards, Sierra Johnson and Ny'Ceara Pryor. For the first time in her young career, Johnson recorded a double-double with career-highs of 16 points and 10 assists. Ny'Ceara Pryor was right on her classmate's tale with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists. 

Nalyce Dudley and Olivia Tucker also tallied 10+ points with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Dudley added eight rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes. 

Records:
Sacred Heart: 19-9, 13-1 NEC
Stonehill: 4-23, 4-10 NEC

Top Performers:
Ny'Ceara Pryor: 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Sierra Johnson: 16 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block
Nalyce Dudley: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

How It Happened:
The Pioneers opened today's game with a 9-0 run over the first 3:23. Johnson started the game on fire with four points, while Sajada Bonner added a 3-pointer. The Skyhawks settled in from there, cutting the margin to two, 16-14, before SHU went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-14 lead into the second quarter. 

Sacred Heart started the second on a 7-1 surge, with Johnson hitting from deep and sinking a layup to help build the home team's advantage to 12, 27-15. Stonehill would not go down without a fight, however, cutting the margin to four before trailing by six at halftime, 35-29. 

The second half was all Pioneers, as they outscored the Skyhawks by a 43-20 margin over the 20 minutes. The momentum started to swing with a 7-0 SHU run that featured three Pryor baskets, the first being a 3-pointer. After the timeout, the Pios strung together a 13-5 surge over the next 4:50 to go ahead by 19, 55-36. Pryor led the way with five points over the run, while Tucker added four. Sacred Heart's lead sat at 57-40 heading into the fourth. 

SHU put on another clinic in the fourth, winning the frame 21-9 after holding the Skyhawks to 9.1% shooting from the floor. The highlight of the quarter was a three-play stretch that featured Pryor's second triple of the game, a vicious block by Johnson in the paint and a beautiful passing clinic that led to an easy Dudley layup. 

Sacred Heart's largest lead came with 4:58 left, as a Tucker 3-pointer gave them a 34-point advantage, 77-43. The Pioneers went on to take the contest by 29 points, 78-49, to improve to 13-1 in the NEC and extend their win streak to 10 games. 

Up Next:
The Pioneers hit the road for their next game on Saturday, March 2. SHU will battle Merrimack at 3 p.m. in an important bout to figure out the NEC regular-season standings.