Jan. 18, 2007

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - Using a razor-sharp defense and a balanced offensive attack The Wagner Seahawks sprinted out to an early first half lead and never looked back defeating NJIT 61-41 in non-conference action earlier tonight at the Spiro Sports Center. With the win the Seahawks improve to 3-15 while the Highlanders fall to 3-14.

Junior Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) embodied the Wagner-attack as she tied Meredith Kerns' single game record with a career-high 10 blocks to go along with six points and a game-high seven rebounds. Ridge's 10 blocks also are the fourth-most by a player at the Division I level this year as three others have blocked 11. The Seahawks defense limited the Highlanders to just 33.3 percent shooting (16-48) from the floor while forcing 25 turnovers that led to 24 Wagner points. The Green & White in turn hit on 40.3 percent (25-62) from the floor while outrebounding NJIT 40-34, including 16-9 on the offensive end that led to a 28-18 Seahawk advantage in points from the paint.

Wagner stormed out of the gates with a 13-4 run, highlighted by a 7-0 spurt that consisted of four points from freshman John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech) and three from senior Takesha Dye (Boynton Beach, FL / Daytona Beach CC). Following a pair of NJIT baskets the Seahawks busted off eight-straight points to go up 21-8 with 5:54 to go in the half. The Seahawks would push the lead out to 16 and entered the half with their largest half-time lead of the year at 30-16. The Seahawks took control of the game with a strong first-half defensive effort that held the Highlanders to just 6-20 shooting from the floor while forcing 15 turnovers.

Junior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) scored a game-high 16 points as nine Seahawk players hit the scoring column. Dye also chipped with nine points and seven boards while sophomore Olivia Nagle (Acton, MA / Acton Boxborough) had nine points and five rebounds in her first game action in over a month following a bout with mono.

Colleen Vogel led NJIT with 15 points on 6-7 shooting.

Wagner returns to action on Saturday when they welcome NEC-rival St. Francis (NY) to the Spiro Sports Center at 4 pm.

Notes: The Seahawks 20-point win was their biggest win since a 69-44 win at FDU on Feb. 2, 2005 ... The 41 points were also the fewest the Seahawk D has yielded since Feb. 2, 2000 when Wagner defeated Central Connecticut State 70-37 ... When Wagner holds teams to under 35 percent shooting they are 3-0 on the year ... With her 10 blocks Ridge is now just 18 away from Meredith Kerns' school-record total of 153.