Feb. 16, 2008
Box Score
Staten Island, NY - Sophomore guard Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD/ Pocomoke) tossed in a game-high 18 points and senior guard Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL/ Eastland) added 17 to pace the Wagner College women's basketball team to its second consecutive victory, a virtual wire-to-wire 71-61 Northeast Conference (NEC) win over Monmouth.
The win helps Wagner's chances of securing a berth in next month's conference tournament and improves the Seahawks' record to 6-18 overall, 4-9 in the NEC while the Hawks fell to 7-17, 4-9 in conference. The victory, which comes on the heels of Monday night's 58-49 victory at Mount St. Mary's, gained Wagner a split of the season series as the Seahawks avenged a 66-58 loss at Monmouth back on Jan. 14. It also marked Wagner's third two-game winning streak of the season.
Monmouth took its lone lead of the game at 1-0 on a free throw by LaKia Barber 23 seconds into the contest. Sophomore guard John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech) hit a jumper 21 seconds later as Wagner took the lead for good. The Seahawks led 37-24 at halftime and enjoyed a double-digit advantage midway through the second half until a Jennifer Bender free throw with 10:26 left in the game cut the Hawk deficit to nine at 47-38.
A jumper by Bunyer with 9:03 left widened the bulge to a game-high 14 points at 52-38 but the pesky Hawks would not go away, responding with a 14-5 surge to close to within 57-52 with 4:30 to go. Brooke McElroy capped the run with a three-point basket. A Bender lay-up with 3:11 left made it 61-56 but that is as close as the Hawks would get as Wagner closed the game with a 10-5 run to win going away.
Junior guard Casey Stokes (Hummelstown, PA/ Lower Dauphin) added 13 points while freshman forward Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) chipped in with nine. Bender led all scorers with 20 while Brianne Edwards and Marisa Jimenez tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively for the Hawks.
For the game, Wagner shot an even 50 percent from the field (23-46) while holding Monmouth to 39% (22-56).
The Poole jumper which gave Wagner the lead for good at 2-1 got the Seahawks off to a quick start as it ignited an 8-0 run that gave Wagner an 8-1. Reed added two lay-ups during this spurt. Monmouth answered with a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 10-7 before Wagner went on a 16-10 run to increase the lead to 26-17, with Reed capping the run at the 4:08 mark with another driving lay-up.
Reed paced the Seahawks in the opening half with 10 points while Bunyer added nine as Wagner increased its lead to a comfortable 13-point margin at halftime. Wagner's aggressive defensive play was a big factor early, forcing the Hawks into committing 14 first half turnovers.
The Seahawks are next in action on Monday, Feb. 18 when they play host to Sacred Heart in a 7:00 pm tip-off.
