2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball team represented Sacred Heart University (SHU) during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by 11th-year head coach Jessica Mannetti, played their home games at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Connecticut as members of the Northeast Conference (NEC).

2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball
NEC regular-season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Four
Conference	Northeast Conference
Record	24–10 (15–1 NEC)
Head coach	Jessica Mannetti (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Liz Flooks Candice Leatherwood Marc Taney
Home arena	William H. Pitt Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Northeast Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Sacred Heart †	15	–	1		.938			24	–	10		.706
Le Moyne*	14	–	2		.875			18	–	15		.545
Fairleigh Dickinson	11	–	5		.688			14	–	17		.452
Merrimack	8	–	8		.500			12	–	19		.387
Central Connecticut	7	–	9		.438			9	–	21		.300
LIU	5	–	11		.313			8	–	22		.267
Stonehill*	4	–	12		.250			4	–	26		.133
Saint Francis	4	–	12		.250			5	–	25		.167
Wagner	4	–	12		.250			7	–	21		.250
† 2024 NEC tournament winner * ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period

This was the Pioneers' final season in the NEC. On October 25, 2023, SHU and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference jointly announced that the university would join that conference on July 1, 2024.^[1]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Wil'Lisha Jackson	5	G/F	5' 8"	SR	Rahway, NJ	Graduated
Maya Klein	12	G	5' 6"	GS	Stamford, CT	Graduated
Savannah Marshall	33	G	5' 8"	SR	Westbrook, CT	Graduated
Carly Stroemel	13	F/C	6' 2"	SR	Voorhees, NJ	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Faith Pappas	5	G	5' 11"	SO	Long Valley, NJ	Fordham

Roster

2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Montana Nicks 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Dwight-Englewood School Englewood, NJ G 1 Ny'Ceara Pryor 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m) So Western Baltimore, MD G 2 Thai Davis 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Beaver Country Day School Stoughton, MA G 3 Amelia Wood 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Averill Park Wynantskill, NY G 4 Nalyce Dudley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr New London Norwich, CT G 5 Faith Pappas 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Pope John XXIII Regional/Fordham Long Valley, NJ G 10 Afia Owusu Mensah 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Glenn Dale, MD G 15 Emma Kirby 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Tatnall School Chadds Ford, PA F 22 Ciara Brannon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Westampton Tech/Wagner Westampton, NJ G 23 Sajada Bonner 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS St. John Vianney/Quinnipiac Cliffwood, NJ G 24 Sierra Johnson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So TPLS Christian Academy Richmond, VA G 30 Olivia Tucker 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS Sanford School/St. Bonaventure Newark, DE F/C 34 Kelsey Wood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Averill Park Wynantskill, NY	Head coach Jessica Mannetti (Concordia College) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 15, 2024

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Rhode Island	L 40–91	0–1	Ryan Center (1,260) Kingston, RI
November 11, 2023* 2:00 p.m.		at Morgan State	W 63–55	1–1	Talmadge L. Hill Field House  Baltimore, MD
November 15, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FloHoops		at Monmouth	W 59–50	2–1	OceanFirst Bank Center (577) West Long Branch, NJ
November 19, 2023* 2:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		Hofstra	W 63–60	3–1	William H. Pitt Center (683) Fairfield, CT
November 23, 2023* 9:00 p.m.		University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez San Juan Shootout	W 73–42	4–1	José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum (250) San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 24, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops		VCU San Juan Shootout	L 62–76	4–2	José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum (250) San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 25, 2023* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops		UCF San Juan Shootout	L 58–69	4–3	José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum  San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 29, 2023* 7:00 p.m., SNY		Fairfield	L 61–66 OT	4–4	William H. Pitt Center (788) Fairfield, CT
December 2, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Bryant	L 71–74 OT	4–5	Chace Athletic Center (225) Smithfield, RI
December 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		NJIT	W 57–48	5–5	William H. Pitt Center (402) Fairfield, CT
December 10, 2023* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Iona	L 50–60	5–6	Hynes Athletic Center (1,021) New Rochelle, NY
December 16, 2023* 5:00 p.m., FloSports		at Providence	L 35–66	5–7	Alumni Hall (584) Providence, RI
December 20, 2023* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		at Vermont	L 64–70	5–8	Patrick Gym (904) Burlington, VT
December 31, 2023* 1:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		Mercy	W 73–41	6–8	William H. Pitt Center  Fairfield, CT
Northeast Conference regular season
January 6, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Merrimack	W 65–51	7–8 (1–0)	William H Pitt Center  Fairfield, CT
January 8, 2024 7:00 p.m.		at Saint Francis	W 86–47	8–8 (2–0)	DeGol Arena (83) Loretto, PA
January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m.		at LIU	W 67–56	9–8 (3–0)	Steinberg Wellness Center  Brooklyn, NY
January 15, 2024 2:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		Le Moyne	L 56–60	9–9 (3–1)	William H Pitt Center (442) Fairfield, CT
January 21, 2024 4:00 p.m.		at Wagner	W 83–63	10–9 (4–1)	Spiro Sports Center (483) Staten Island, NY
January 25, 2024 7:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		LIU	W 70–55	11–9 (5–1)	William H Pitt Center  Fairfield, CT
January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		Fairleigh Dickinson	W 68–51	12–9 (6–1)	William H Pitt Center (864) Fairfield, CT
February 1, 2024 6:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		at Stonehill	W 80–53	13–9 (7–1)	Merkert Gymnasium (381) Easton, MA
February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		at Le Moyne	W 73–55	14–9 (8–1)	Ted Grant Court (403) DeWitt, NY
February 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		Central Connecticut	W 58–53	15–9 (9–1)	William H Pitt Center (512) Fairfield, CT
February 17, 2024 2:00 p.m., SNY		Wagner	W 79–55	16–9 (10–1)	William H Pitt Center (525) Fairfield, CT
February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m.		at Fairleigh Dickinson	W 75–63	17–9 (11–1)	Bogota Savings Bank Center (405) Teaneck, NJ
February 24, 2024 1:00 p.m.		at Central Connecticut	W 73–55	18–9 (12–1)	William H. Detrick Gymnasium (459) New Britain, CT
February 29, 2024 7:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		Stonehill	W 78–49	19–9 (13–1)	William H Pitt Center (441) Fairfield, CT
March 2, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Merrimack	W 64–51	20–9 (14–1)	Hammel Court  North Andover, MA
March 7, 2024 11:00 a.m., NEC Front Row		Saint Francis	W 76–47	21–9 (15–1)	William H Pitt Center (1,502) Fairfield, CT
Northeast Conference women's tournament
March 11, 2024 7:00 p.m., NEC Front Row	(1)	(8) Saint Francis Quarterfinals	W 78–48	22–9	William H. Pitt Center (298) Fairfield, CT
March 14, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	(1)	(3) Merrimack Semifinals	W 73–41	23–9	William H. Pitt Center (464) Fairfield, CT
March 17, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPNU	(1)	(2) Le Moyne Championship	W 69–48	24–9	William H. Pitt Center (1,467) Fairfield, CT
NCAA women's tournament
March 20, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU	(16 A1)	vs. (16 A1) Presbyterian First Four	L 42–49	24–10	Colonial Life Arena (1,196) Columbia, SC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source:^[2]