Jan. 7, 2008

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - Central Connecticut State outscored Wagner by a 13-5 count in overtime to hand the Seahawks a 62-54 loss in Northeast Conference (NEC) action at the Spiro Sports Center. With the win the Blue Devils improve to 2-12 and 1-2 in the NEC while the Seahawks are now 2-11 and 0-3 in the NEC.

In the extra session, Wagner struck first with an Ali Ridge (Sr., Barrington, IL / Fremd) free throw and a John'a Poole (So., Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech) lay-up to go in front 52-49 with 3:40 to go. Unfortunately for the Green & White that would be their last field goal of the game.

CCSU tied the game up with an Emily Rose three pointer that sparked a game-changing 13-0 run. After a missed Wagner jumper the Blue Devils went ahead on a Jhanay Harris triple. Alexzandria Dowdy then scored on a lay-up to push the lead out to 57-52 with 1:36 remaining. CCSU would add another field goal and three free throws to take a commanding 62-52 lead on its way to the 62-54 win.

The Blue Devils hit on 66.7 percent (4-6) of their shots in the overtime, including 2-3 from beyond the arc, while the Seahawks was just 1-7. CCSU shot 38.2 percent (21-55) for the game while Wagner converted just 27.9 percent (17-61) of their shots.

Overshadowed in Wagner's heartbreaking loss was Ieva Sulskyte's (Vilnius, Lithuania / Daytona Beach CC) second career double-double. The senior forward recorded team-bests with 15 points and 11 rebounds while blocking a career-high four shots. Sophomore Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) had another solid all-around performance with seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and a career-best matching five steals in a personal-best 44 minutes of action. Ridge rounded out the top-performers for Wagner with 11 points and seven rebounds.

The Blue Devils missed their first 10 shots of the second half and watched Wagner rally to get within two at 33-31. Baskets by Dowdy and Danica Covington stretched the lead back to six, and CCSU pushed the advantage to seven, 44-37, with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Seahawks then made their move, ripping off 10-straight points to go up 47-44 with 4:53 remaining.

After the Blue Devils hit a free throw to quell the run, Covington scored on a lay-up to tie the game up at 47-47. Wagner went back in front at 49-47 on a jumper from senior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) with a jumper at the 3:19 mark. The Seahawks had a chance to put the game away stopping the Blue Devils on two straight possessions before Dowdy hit a driving lay-up to tie the game with 31 seconds remaining. The game went into overtime after Reed's last-second shot rimmed out.

The first half was competitive from the get-go and featured five lead changes and three ties. Wagner got off to a good start, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead on a pair of lay-ups from Ridge. The Seahawks opened their biggest lead of the half at 14-9 with a Bunyer jumper at the 14-minute mark.

After sophomore guard Naomi Augustin (Valley Stream, NY/ Valley Stream Central) dug out an offensive rebound and converted the putback, Wagner held a 26-22 lead with 5:10 left in the half. This bucket, however, would prove to be Wagner's final points of the half as the Blue Devils embarked on an explosive 11-0 run over the next three minutes en route to seizing a 33-26 halftime lead.

Jhanay Harris, who paced the Blue Devils in the opening stanza with nine points, ignited the Blue Devils' run with a three-point jumper that cut the deficit to 26-25. Another three-pointer, this time by Emily Rose, put CCSU back out in front at 28-26 at the 3:43 juncture of the first half. A Rose jumper with 2:10 to go in the half gave the Blue Devils a 33-26 lead as both teams went scoreless the rest of the way.

Dowdy scored a career-high 17 points, on 7-13 shooting, with five rebounds to lead CCSU while Danica Covington added a career and game-best 17 rebounds with eight points.

NOTES: The overtime game was the first for the Seahawks since a 69-66 loss to LIU on Feb. 16, 2004 ... Wagner has now lost their last five overtime games, last winning Jan. 30, 1999 when the Seahawks won 90-85 at Monmouth in double overtime ... Bunyer scored eight points and now has 1,045 for her career, one behind SFNY coach Brenda Milano for 20th all-time ... Wagner is next in action on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 pm when the Green & White heads to Army in their final non-conference game of the year.