Jan. 29, 2007

Box Score

Emmitsburg, MD - Mount St. Mary's outlasted Wagner 61-45 in a defensive battle earlier tonight at Knott Arena. With the loss the Green & White fall to 3-18 and 1-9 in the NEC while the Mount improves to 8-12 and 6-4 in the NEC with their third-straight victory.

Freshman Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) led the way for Wagner with a team-best 12 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists against just one turnover despite being guarded by reigning NEC Defensive MVP Tiffany Green. Junior Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) was a force on the defensive end with seven blocks and a game-high seven rebounds to go along with a season-best 10 points while senior Jessie Collins (Crofton, MD / Arundel) hit for 10 points despite being keyed on by a tenacious Mount-defense to round out the top-performers for the Seahawks.

Ridge got things going in the second half with a lay-up off a pass from Takesha Dye (Boynton Beach, FL / Daytona CC) to cut the deficit to 33-29 with 19:39 to go in the game. Unfortunately that would be as close as Wagner would get the rest of the way. The Mount would push their lead out to 13 at 46-33 with 13:36 to go. The Seahawks would counter with a 7-1 run on two free throws from freshman John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech), a three pointer from Collins and a jumper from junior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) cut the lead to seven at 47-40 with 10:55 remaining before a Dominique Mazzuchi hit a jumper and a three to push the lead back to 12 and extinguish the last serious Seahawk-run. The Mount defense held Wagner to just three points and one field goal over the last 9:22 of the game to win going away 61-45.

After failing to lead in the first meeting the Green & White struck first with a pair of Ridge lay-ups separated by a Mount three pointer. The Mountaineers then assumed the lead with four-straight points to go up 7-4, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. Following an Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) jumper the Mount would run off six-straight points before a Collins' triple would cut it to 13-9 with 14:00 to go. After exchanging baskets, the Mountaineers would go on a 11-2 run over the next 3:17 to extend their lead to 13 at 26-13. The Seahawks would answer right back with six-straight free throws and a lay-up from Ridge to cut the lead to five with 3:56 to go. The Mount would answer with a three and the teams would play the rest of the half rather evenly with the Mountaineers holding a slim 33-27 halftime lead.

Wagner managed to hit on 33.3 percent (16-48) of their shots, including just 26.1 percent in the second half, while the Mount hit on 44.9 percent (22-49) from the field. The Green & White were also done in by the Mountaineers' 38-24 advantage on the glass.

Pacing the Mount was Dita Krumberga with 16 points while Mazzuchi's 14-points sparked a 20-9 advantage in bench-points for the victors.

Wagner will return to action on Saturday at 2 pm when they head to NEC leader Long Island.