BOX SCORE
South Orange, NJ – Seton Hall (3-0) quelled Wagner's (2-1) attempt to start the year with three-straight wins with a 90-59 victory in the first round of the Seton Hall Classic at Walsh Gymnasium. The Pirates broke open a close game with a big second half, shooting 57.6 percent from the floor while outscoring the Green & White 51-26 in the pivotal period.
Seton Hall parlayed 29 Seahawk turnovers into 26 points and dominated the paint, outscoring Wagner 38-16. The Green & White shot a solid 38.8 percent (19-49) for the game and were outstanding at the charity stripe, hitting on 83.3 percent (15-18). The Pirates shot 47.1 percent (33-70) for the game.
The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair as Wagner assumed the early lead at 6-5 just over three minutes into the game, thanks to a pair of three pointers from sophomore
Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) and senior
Casey Stokes (Hummelstown, PA / Lower Dauphin). Seton Hall quickly wrestled the lead back with seven-straight points to make it 12-6 with 12:47 to go in the first.
Later in the half with the Pirates up 18-12, the Seahawks retook the lead with an 11-3 run. Freshman
Brittney Thorpe (Newport News, VA / Heritage) got things going with a jumper before junior
Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) followed with a jumper of her own. After a Seton Hall free throw, Reed nailed a pair from the line to cut it to 19-18 with 6:12 to go in the half. The Pirates went back up three with a jumper before the Wagner rattled off five-straight points, capped by Olsen's second three of the half to give take a 23-21 lead with 5:13 to go. The Seahawks would stretch the lead out to four at 27-23 with 4:13 to go on a
Stephanie McBride (So., Mechanicville, NY / Catholic Central) jumper. Trailing by one at 30-29, Seton Hall put together its first big run of the night, scoring10-straight points to take a commanding 39-30 lead with just 19 seconds to go in the half. Olsen would hit three free throws to momentarily stop the bleeding, making it 39-33 at intermission.
In the first half, both teams struggled shooting the ball as Wagner hit on just 36.4 percent and Seton Hall 37.8 percent. The Seahawks did connect on 14-15 from the free-throw line but committed 14 turnover, compared to just six for the Pirates.
With the Seahawks trailing 41-37 with 18:16 remaining in the second, Seton Hall flexed its muscles. The Pirates scored 12-straight points in just over three minutes on the way to a game-changing 27-5 run to make the score 68-42 with 10:20 to play.
Stokes led Wagner with 14 points, highlighted by 4-7 shooting from beyond the arc, with three assists, against just one turnover. Reed notched 13 points with six rebounds and six assists while Olsen rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, on 3-6 shooting, with four rebounds. Thorpe matched Reed with a team-best six rebounds while scoring eight points off the bench.
Ebonie Williams scored a career-high 25 points and Kandice Green had 21 points and a game-high eight rebounds to lead four double-digit scorers for the Pirates.
The Seahawks will play in the consolation game against Northern Illinois tomorrow, Nov. 22 at 1 pm.
