Nov. 12, 2006
Box Score
PRINCETON, NJ - Despite giving the defending Ivy League tri-champion Princeton Tigers all they could handle the Wagner Seahawks were handed a 70-52 setback at Jadwin Gym earlier tonight in the season-opener for both teams.
Despite the loss sophomore forward Olivia Nagle (Acton, MA / Acton Boxborough) had a personal coming-out party with 24 points, on 8-13 shooting, to go along with a team-high nine rebounds while narrowly missing her first career double-double. Nagle was also stellar at the line knocking down 8-9.
After falling behind 36-27 with 19:07 remaining in the second, the Seahawks ran off a well-timed 12-4 run over the next 6:44 to cut it to 40-39. However that was as close as Wagner would get as they squandered three-straight possessions in which they had the opportunity to tie or take the lead. From that point on it was all Princeton as they countered with a 13-1 run of their own spanning 4:25 to go up by an insurmountable margin of 53-40 with 6:08 remaining. The Tigers would extend their lead to a game-high 18 points at 63-45 on their way to a 70-52 win.
The Tiger defense also put the clamps on Wagner after a Seahawk three pointer with 14:55 remaining, allowing them just one field goal over 13:20 until junior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) hit paydirt with a jumper with 1:35 remaining in the game. During that span the Tigers lead increased from three to 18 points before Bunyer's shot.
The Seahawk defense put the clamps on Princeton limiting them 37.9 percent (22-58) from the floor and just 22.2 percent from behind the arc (4-18). However the Tigers also played tough defense holding Wagner to 33.3 percent shooting (18-54), including just 26.7 percent (8-30) in the second half. Princeton was tough on the boards outrebounding the Seahawks 46-36 and 23-15 on the offensive end in a game marred by a combined 54 turnovers and 45 fouls.
Nagle was the lone double-figure scorer for the Seahawks. Rounding out the top performers for Wagner was Bunyer (9 points) and freshman John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech), who had five points, five rebounds in her collegiate debut.
The first half was evenly played as the Tigers went into halftime with a 31-25 lead.
The Green & White are next in action at New Hampshire on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 pm.
