After unanimously being voted No. 1 in the NEC preseason poll, the Sacred Heart women's basketball team is the News 12 Connecticut Team of the Week sponsored by the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Head coach Jess Mannetti's team gained national attention last year after earning its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history.

The reigning NEC champs return all five starters from last year's team, including the NEC rookie, defensive and Player of the Year Ny'Ceara Pryor.

Mannetti says the team loves having a target on its back.

"We talked about pressure. We love an opportunity to have pressure on us. I think we're really honored to be chosen unanimously first, but we know there's a lot we're going to have to work on to continue to maintain the opportunity for us to play the way we want to play," says Mannetti.

Pryor led the nation in steals last year. She says the pioneers play every game as if they're in last place.

"We want to make sure that we are the ones that do the hunting every time. We never want to be someone's prey, so that's our mindset going into any game," says Pryor.

Sacred Heart will unveil multiple banners at its home opener on Nov. 19.