Jan. 21, 2006

Box Score

STATEN ISLAND, NY - The Robert Morris Colonials showed the Wagner Seahawks why they were picked to win the Northeast (NEC) Conference as they forced 24 turnovers that resulted in 32 points while using a an intense full-court press on their way to a 74-58 win. With the win the Colonials extend their winning streak to five games moving to 10-5 and 6-0 in the NEC while the Seahawks drop to 1-14 and 1-5 in the NEC.

With the Colonials up 42-36 with 14:27 to go in the game Robert Morris embarked on a 16-0 run over the next 5:42 to extend the lead to 58-36, their largest of the day. During the back-breaking run the Colonials forced seven turnovers while limiting the Seahawks to just three shots. Wagner would cut the lead to 14 on two separate occasions but would not get any closer.

The Colonials appeared prime to blow the game open early as they sprinted out of the gates with a 10-5 lead only to see the Seahawks rattle off the next six points to make it 11-10 with Wagner with 15:21 remaining in the first. Then with the score tied at 26 with 5:14 to go in the first half, Robert Morris went on a 14-6 run to close out the half with a 40-32 lead heading into intermission. The Seahawks were sparked by the impressive play of sophomore guard Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland), who kept the Seahawks in the game with 13 first-half points on her way to team-high 19 points.

Also standing out for Wagner was the front-court tandem of freshman forward Olivia Nagle (Acton, MA / Acton Boxborough) and sophomore center Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd). Nagle had 11 points and a career and team-high nine rebounds while Ridge had 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks.

Robert Morris was led by Psyche Butler who had her second-straight double-double with a career-high 24 points to go along with a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Seahawks outrebounded the Colonials 46-38 after losing the battle of the board (45-33) in their first match-up. Robert Morris shot 40.3 percent (29-72) for the game, despite shooting at only a 6.7 percent-clip (1-15) from three-point land. Wagner shot 38.3 percent (23-60) from the field.

Wagner completes their season-long four-game homestand when they welcome defending NEC champ St. Francis (PA) to the Spiro Sports Center Monday, Jan. 23 at 5 pm in the first game of a women's/men's doubleheader.

NOTES: Senior guard Joy Gallagher (Hazleton, PA / Hazleton) had a career-high nine rebounds and a season-high six assists to go along with six points ... She now has 992 points for her career and is eight away from becoming the 20th Seahawk to hit the 1000-point milestone ... Robert Morris coach Sal Buscaglia picked up his 250th Division I win ... The Colonials 6-0 NEC start is the best in school history and their six-game NEC winning streak is the longest in school history ... Bunyer's 19 points come on the heels of her first scoreless game of the season vs. Sacred Heart ... In two games against Robert Morris this year Bunyer averaged 24.0 points shooting .528 from the field (19-36) from the field.