Feb. 26, 2007

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Staten Island, NY - Wagner's late-rally came up just short as they fell 67-62 to Saint Francis (PA) earlier tonight on Senior Day at the Spiro Sports Center. Down by as many as 12 points the Green & White came back to tie the score on two occasions but could get no closer. The comeback was led by sophomore Olivia Nagle (Acton, MA / Acton Boxborough), who scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second stanza, to go along a career-high tying 12 rebounds for her first career double-double. In defeat, the Seahawks close up their season at 3-26 and 1-17 in the NEC while the Red Flash improve to 7-22 and 4-14 in the NEC in their final game of the year.

For the second-straight game Wagner's shooters were red-hot in the second-stanza hitting at a 56.7 percent clip. Sophomore Casey Stokes (Hummelstown, PA / Lower Dauphin) got things going by hitting two straight three pointers to give Wagner their first lead since early in the first at 27-26 with 18:53 to go. The two teams then traded three pointers before Saint Francis (PA) went on a 13-2 run to go up 42-32 at the 13:22-mark. The two teams then jockeyed for positioning before Shawna Scott's three pointer gave SFPA their largest lead of the day at 52-40 with 9:21 to go.

The Seahawks then turned up the heat on the Flash ripping off a 15-3 run over the next 6:11 as junior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) and sophomore Olivia Nagle (Acton, MA / Acton-Boxborough) took over, scoring combining for 13 of the 15 points. Also during the run the Seahawks defense picked it up forcing five turnovers and limiting SFPA to just four shots.

However the next time down the court Christie Ayers hit a lay-up to go back up by two. Nagle then answered with a lay-up of her own on a beautiful pass from senior Jessie Collins (Crofton, MD / Arundel). The Red Flash answered yet again as Lindsay Stuckey hit a three pointer and Emily Bollinger hit a pair of free throws to put SFPA up 62-57 with just 44 seconds remaining. Wagner then pounded the ball inside to Nagle, who cut it to three with a lay-up. After a Shawna Scott free throw Nagle cut it to 63-62 with an old-fashioned three point play. Scott then nailed two free throws and the Seahawks looked to be in position for another Nagle three-point play as there was contact before she was called for a controversial traveling call with four seconds left. SFPA hit two free throws with 0.4 seconds to win 67-62.

Bunyer scored all 11 of her points in the second half after missing the last game due to back spasms and junior Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) hit for 10 points to go with six boards to round out the double-digit scorers for the Green & White.

Both teams shot effectively as Wagner hit 40 percent while Saint Francis (PA) was good on 42.9 percent, including 7-11 from beyond the arc. The Seahawks nullified that statistic by going 13-15 from the charity stripe.

On senior night, the Green & White came roaring out of the gates going up 12-10 with 8:58 to go, highlighted by a combined 10 points from seniors Ashley Robinson (Joliet, IL / Regina Dominican), Collins and Takesha Dye (Boynton Beach, FL / Daytona Beach CC). Saint Francis (PA) then ripped off 10 straight points to go up 20-12 with 5:17 to go. The Seahawks then dug in and went on a 7-2 run over the next 3:05, to make it 22-19. The two teams would then trade baskets before the Red Flash went into halftime up 24-21. The Green & White trailed by just three at intermission despite shooting just 20 percent (5-25) from the floor but were aided by 9-10 shooting from the charity stripe, led by Ridge, who was a perfect 6-6.

Robinson finished with eight points in her final game while Dye had six rebounds and Collins had three points while matching Robinson with a team-high five assists.