Feb. 15, 2006
Box Score
STATEN ISLAND, NY - The Wagner College Seahawks used a stifling array of zone and man-to-man defenses to shut down the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils by a score of 68-53 earlier tonight at the Spiro Sports Center while snapping their season-long 11 game losing streak.
Senior guard Joy Gallagher's (Hazleton, PA / Hazleton) game-high 23 points led a Seahawk offense that shot a season-best 51.0 percent (25-49) of their shots, including 61.9 percent (13-21) in the second half. The Seahawk defense also put the clamps on the CCSU offense limiting them to their lowest shooting output of the season, 29.3 percent shooting (17-58), while forcing 19 Blue Devils turnovers.
With the win the Seahawks improve to 2-21 and 2-12 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and the Blue Devils fall to 7-18 and 4-11 in the NEC.
Sophomore center Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) led the defensive effort with seven blocks, seven rebounds and five steals to go along with seven points while helping hold Gabriella Guegbelet, the NEC's leading scorer and rebounder, to just eight points and eight rebounds. Ridge's seven blocks give her 60 for the season and breaks Meredith Kerns' previous school-record of 57, set during the 1998-99 campaign.
In the first half, The Seahawks raced out to an early 8-0 advantage and extended their lead to 11 at 27-16 using a tenacious defense that forced 12 first-half turnovers and limited the Blue Devils to just 22.2 percent (6-27) shooting. CCSU would rebound to score the final five points of the half and head into the break down just six points despite the stellar first-half display by the Seahawks.
The Green & White did not let up in the second half as they controlled the tempo throughout the half and let their lead dip below six only once while extending their lead to a season-high 19, before closing out the game by a count of 68-53. Down the stretch Wagner was extremely clutch from the free throw line, connecting on 12 straight free throws at one time.
Sophomore guard Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) hit for 13 points while freshman forward Olivia Nagle (Acton, MA / Acton Boxborough) had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench to complement Gallagher's 23 points.
Katherine Kelsey led the Blue Devils with 10 points.
Wagner returns to the road when they head to conference tri-leader Quinnipiac for a 5 pm tilt in Hamden, CT on Saturday, Feb. 18.
NOTES: Wagner's 68 points were the most scored by the Seahawks this season, surpassing their previous total of 66 set at Clemson (12/10) ... Wagner's 51.0 percent shooting was also their top mark of the season and their best performance since they hit 54.0 percent of their shots in an 81-59 win at LIU on Jan. 21, 2004 ... Gallagher scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season and now has 1,101 for her career, 43 behind Jeanne Sullivan for 16th place on the Seahawk scoring list ... The duo of Guebelet and Kim Boone combined for just 18 points, after going off for 53 in their first meeting.
