BOX SCORE

South Orange, NJ – Using a 52-16 advantage on the glass, Northern Illinois defeated Wagner 70-56 in the consolation game of the Seton Hall Classic at Walsh Gymnasium. The Huskies outscored the Seahawks 46-29 in the decisive second stanza while improving to 2-2 as the Seahawks fall to 2-2.

Defensively, Wagner was outstanding forcing 32 turnovers, which led to 22 points, while only turning it over 18 times. The Green & White just could not contend with the much bigger frontline of Northern Illinois as the Huskies used a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points, thanks to a 21-5 edge on the offensive glass.

Junior point guard Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) again led the way for the Seahawks with 14 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals, all of which were team-highs. Reed, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had a solid weekend averaging team-bests in points (13.5 ppg), rebounds (5.5 rpg) and assists (7.0 apg) while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 83.3 percent from the line

Sophomore Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) chipped in with 12 points, on 5-11 shooting, with three rebounds while senior Casey Stokes (Hummelstown, PA / Lower Dauphin) continued her hot three-point shooting, knocking down 3-7 from long-range for nine points.

For Northern Illinois, Ebony Ellis led the way with 22 rebounds and 12 points while Jessie Wilcox (14 points) and Shan' Welton (11 points) each hit for double-figures.

Wagner sprinted out of the gates, scoring the first eight points of the contest on three pointers from Stokes and Olsen before freshman Brittney Thorpe (Newport News, VA / Heritage) capped the run with a lay-up just over four minutes into the game. The Huskies finally got on the board with a three pointer at the 15:08 mark. With the Seahawks up 15-9, Northern Illinois used an 8-2 run to tie the game up at 17-17 with 9:37 remaining in the first half. The Seahawks responded with six-straight points to go in front 23-17 with 6:46 on the clock. Wagner would maintain the lead and head into intermission up 27-24.

In the first stanza, the Green & White held the Huskies to just 29.2 percent shooting (7-24) while forcing 20 turnovers that led to a 13-0 margin in points off of turnovers. However, in what would eventually be the story of the game, the Seahawks were outrebounded 27-8, including 13-3 on the offensive end.

Down 35-34 early in the second half, Northern Illinois used a 10-0 run to take a 44-35 lead with 12:47 remaining. Wagner then countered with a 12-5 run to cut it to 49-47 with 8:02 remaining on Stokes' third triple of the game. That would be as close as the Green & White would get as the Huskies responded with 10-straight points to push the lead out to 59-47 with 5:31 remaining. Northern Illinois would extend the lead to a game-high 16 with just under four minutes remaining before coming away with a 70-56 victory.

Also turning in good performances were Stokes, who averaged 11.5 ppg - highlighted by 7-14 shooting from three-point land - and Olsen, who also hit for 11.5 ppg, on 47.1 percent shooting.

The Seahawks will next be in action at Columbia on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 4:30 pm.