Jan. 26, 2008

Box Score

Hackensack, NJ - Mercedez Walker's jumper from the left corner with 37 seconds remaining broke a 51-51 tie to propel Fairleigh Dickinson to a 54-51 win over Wagner at Stratis Arena. The Seahawks are now 2-16 and 0-7 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Knights are 8-11 and 4-4 in the conference.

After a Wagner timeout, freshman Stephanie McBride's (Mechanicville, NY / Catholic Central) three-point attempt found back-iron with 26 seconds remaining. Jasmyra Saunders hit just one of two free throws on the other end to put FDU up 54-51, giving the Seahawks one last chance to tie the game, but their final three-point attempt was no good.

In defeat, the Seahawks' bench stood out, led by sophomore John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech), who scored a season-high 16 points, on 7-12 shooting, with two steals in 31. McBride and Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) each hit for nine points with two steals. The three players combined for 34 points off the bench as the reserves outscored the starters for the third time this year.

Also standing out for the Green & White was sophomore Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MY / Pocomoke), who had eight points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals. Senior Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) paced the defense with a team-best eight rebounds.

Wagner shot just 33.3 percent (21-63) for the game, including 2-13 from beyond the arc, and were outrebounded 47-39. That led to a 26-15 advantage in second-chance points. FDU hit on just 37.5 percent (21-56), but shot 46.6 percent (12-26) in the second stanza.

The second half was highlighted by a series of runs by both teams. FDU used a 7-0 run after halftime to reclaim the lead at 33-28. Ridge then started a 7-0 Wagner run with a lay-up before Poole drained a pair of shots sandwiched between a Ridge free throw to put the Green & White back in front at 35-33 with 12:54 remaining. The Knights responded with a 12-2 run over 5:58 to go up 45-37 with 6:24 to go, their largest lead since scoring the first 10 points to start the game. Wagner's ever-resilient Seahawks would show no quit, immediately answering with an old-fashioned three-point play from Olsen and McBride drilled a three to cut the lead to two with just over five minutes remaining. FDU pushed the lead back out to four before McBride drilled another three to cut it to one. Jennifer Walking then hit a lay-up, giving the Knights a 51-48 lead. After a McBride free throw, Poole hit a jumper to knot the game at 51-51 with 1:27 to go. Unfortunately that was Wagner's last point of the day as the Knights escaped with a 54-51 win.

Fairleigh Dickinson scored the first 10 points of the games but unlike in the past few games the Green & White responded immediately, ripping off a 10-2 spurt on their way to an 18-7 run that gave Wagner their first lead of the game at 18-17 with 9:57 to go. The Seahawk defense also locked down the Knight shooters, holding them without a field goal from the 13:26 mark until Shanay Freeman's jumper at the 5:05 mark. Wagner would push their lead out to four before entering halftime up 28-26.

In the first half, Wagner outscored FDU 18-10 in the paint while forcing the Knights into 12 turnovers, compared to just seven for the Green & White. The Seahawks' defense also limited FDU to just 23.8 percent shooting (5-21) to end the half after giving up 10-straight points to open the game.

Walkling led both teams with game-highs in points (20) and rebounds while Jenna Strich added 12 points.

Wagner hosts Mount St. Mary's on Monday at 7 pm in the Spiro Sports Center.

NOTES: This was the second time in NEC play Wagner has given up the game's first 10 points (Sacred Heart), each time the Seahawks came back to take the halftime lead ... The Green & White have now lost eight games by 10 points or less ... FDU has won five-straight games against the Seahawks after Wagner took both meetings in 2004-2005.