Complete Notes In PDF Format

Staten Island Advance Preview

Staten Island, NY - After a disappointing 2008-2009 campaign the Wagner women's basketball team returns to the hardwood while looking to make the 2009-2010 season one to remember. The Green & White tip off the school's 40th season of intercollegiate basketball at the hallowed grounds of West Point against Army on Friday, November 13 at 5:00 pm in Christl Arena.

Media Information - Game Audio and Video will be available via the Army Athletics Website (www.goarmysports.com) for $5.83. Live stats will also be available for free and can be accessed via the Wagner women's basketball schedule page.

The Coaches - Head coach Gela Mikalauskas enters her 16th season on the Wagner sidelines with a record of 193-229 record. On the opposing sideline will be Army coach Dave Magarity, who is in his fourth season after directing the Marist and Saint Francis (PA) men's basketball teams for 23 years. Magarity has accrued 374 wins in his three coaching stops. Additionally he coached former Indiana Pacer star Rik Smits at Marist.

Last Year vs. Army - Wagner posted a narrow 59-58 come-from-behind win over Army on senior Andrea Reed's running bank shot with just 2.9 seconds remaining in the season-opener for both teams at the Spiro Sports Center on November 14, 2008.

For the 5-4 point guard it was a fitting end to a stellar evening. Reed scored a then career-high 22 points, including 18 of the Seahawks' 30 second-half points, with four steals in helping the Green & White to their second-straight season-opening win. She put Wagner on her back midway through the second half, scoring 15 of the Seahawks' final 18 points over the final 9:58.

Season Openers - Wagner is 19-20 all-time season openers and has won two-straight after dropping its previous eight season openers. Head coach Gela Mikalauskas is 9-6 all-time in season openers.

Did You Know - That in the popular movie Coming To America (starring Eddie Murphy, James Earl Jones and Arsenio Hall) the basketball game that Murphy's character attends is not a Knicks game but rather a Marist Red Fox game ... coached by Magarity.

The Series - Wagner and Army have split four all-time meetings.

Wagner-Army Series History
2008-2009 Army (W, 59-58)
2007-2008 @ Army (L, 59-50)
2005-2006 Army (W, 66-63)
1978-1979 @ Army (L, 54-81)

Scouting Army - After compiling an 81-41 record over the past four years, Army appears to be in a bit of a rebuilding mode after losing two of its top three scorers in program history over the last two years.
Fortunately for the Black Knights, Army does return three starters from last year's team that went 19-12 led by Erin Anthony, who averaged 12.3 ppg and 8.2 rpg while being named Second Team All-Patriot. Last year, she scored 14 points in 33 minutes against the Green & White.

Other starters returning are Nalini Hawkins (8.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 2.3 rpg) and Laura Baranek (6.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg). Army does not have a senior and has seven freshmen among its 16-cadet roster.

Playing The Patriot - Today's game is the first of four games for Wagner against the Patriot League. The Green & White will also play at Lehigh, vs. American and at Colgate. All-time, the Seahawks are 15-17 against the eight-team league.

Reed Leads The Returners - Senior Andrea Reed (13.0 ppg) leads nine Wagner returners, including fellow seniors John'a Poole (5.6 ppg) and Naomi Augustin (2.6 ppg).

The returning juniors are Ashley Olsen (8.5 ppg), Stephanie McBride (5.4 ppg) and Nyoto Patterson (1.9 ppg).

Rounding out the letterwinners from last year are sophomores Kelly Clark (7.4 ppg), Kanifa Hicks (5.4 ppg) and Brittney Thorpe (4.0 ppg).

Road Warriors - The Seahawks will play 12 of its first 15 games on the road - including seven-straight during one stretch. After hosting Columbia on December 8 the Seahawks will not return home again until January 14 when Long Island visits the Spiro Sports Center.

Seahawks Welcome Five To The Fold - To say that Wagner's newcomer class is different from years past would be an understatement. Juniors Sha'Ron Harrison and Megan Mahoney both transferred to Grymes Hill.
 
Harrison sat out last season after arriving via Delaware and will be eligible immediately. Mahoney, a local product, will be eligible at the conclusion of the first semester after transferring from Fordham.
Mahoney, a 5-7 guard, led the Rams in scoring (15.4 ppg) and was fifth nationally among freshmen in 2007-2008.

Sophomore Micaela McDonald joins the team after playing on the volleyball team as a freshman.
Rounding out the newcomers are freshmen Marie-Laurence Archambault and Veronick Fournier. The Canadian duo played their prep basketball at Montmorency in Canada.

Two In A Row - McDonald will begin her second collegiate season in the same place where she began her first. McDonald played in her first collegiate volleyball match at Army last year, recording two kills and six digs in a 3-0 loss to the Black Knights. After last year, the Wagner volleyball program was discontinued and McDonald joined the Wagner team.

Reed Steps Up - Reed elevated her game to an even higher level as a junior and earned her second-straight Team MVP. Reed led the squad and ranked among the NEC's best in numerous categories. She averaged 13.0 ppg (12th NEC), 5.1 apg (1st NEC) and 2.2 spg (t-2nd NEC) while also ranking second in rebounding (5.2 rpg) while shooting 43.8 percent from the floor (15th NEC) and 72.1 percent from the line.

Wagner vs. Army - Reed is averaging 14.5 ppg in two career games against Army while shooting 52.2 percent from the floor. Last year, she netted 22 points, on 9-13 shooting, with four steals, against just two turnovers, in 34 minutes. In the second half, she was 7-9 from the floor while the rest of the Seahawks were just 2-18. Poole is averaging 6.5 ppg over two career games against Army. Augustin netted a season-high 10 points in just 11 minutes two years ago at Army.

Family Ties - Archambault's older brother William has played the last three years at Davidson and was a member of the 2008 squad that advanced to the Elite Eight. This year, he is a senior for Wildcats as they look to transition following the departure of Stephen Curry.

20/20 Vision - Reed scored 20 points or more in four games last year and the Green & White went 3-1 in those games. She capped off her 22-point night with the game-winner over Army. Reed got 15 of her 25 points from the line in a come-from-behind victory over Saint Peter's (12/20/08). Against SFNY (1/26/09), she hit 24 to lead the Green & White to victory. She also scored a career-high 26 points, on 10-15 shooting with six assists and five rebounds against Fairfield (12/29/08).

Reed Notches 400 Career Assists - Reed eclipsed the 400-mark for career assists last year and now has 407 after recording six at Quinnipiac on March 2, 2009. Last year's NEC's leader at 5.1, she moved into fifth place on the all-time Wagner assist with nine at LIU on February 14, 2009 while hurdling past current SFNY coach Brenda Milano.

ASSISTS
4. Ashley Linscott, 2000-2004 485
5. Andrea Reed, 2006-pres. 407

And Wagner's Career Steals List - With her one steal at Quinnipiac in last year's finale, Reed now has 176 career swipes. At SFNY (1/26/09), she recorded a personal-best six thefts. Assistant coach Maureen Hannafin holds the school record with 267 steals.

STEALS
5. Shawn Martin, 1985-1988 187
6. Andrea Reed, 2006-pres. 176

Reed Chasing History - Reed enters her senior campaign with 741 points, 407 assists, 361 rebounds and 176 steals. She has a chance to become the first student-athlete in Wagner history to record 1000 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals.

Block Party - Clark had a solid first year at Wagner finishing second in the NEC with 1.8 bpg while notching 51 blocks (fourth best in school history). Additionally she finished the year with a bang, averaging 12.8 ppg and 8.3 rpg and 2.0 bpg while shooting 53.8 percent from the floor over the final four games. For the year, Clark was third in scoring (7.4 ppg) while shooting 48.6 percent from the floor.

Strange But True 1 - Wagner played in three overtime games last year and were involved in two-straight, marking the first time in school history that had happened.

Strange But True 2 - The Green & White collected five wins when trailing at the half last year, after registering just two over the previous four campaigns combined.

For Starters - 11 different Seahawks started at least one game last year.

Close Games - Last year, the Wagner went 7-5 in games decided by less than 10 points and 5-1 in games decided by five points or less.

Patriot League = Last-Second Wins - The Green & White played against two teams from the Patriot League last year in Army and Colgate. In both meetings, the Seahawks had to come back from eight-point deficits and won both with last-second jumpers off the glass.

Poole's 10-foot jumper off glass with 1.2 seconds remaining was the difference in Wagner's 58-56 overtime win vs. Colgate (12/1/08).  Reed's jumper in the paint with 2.9 seconds sealed the 59-58 win for Wagner against Army (11/14/08).

To New Beginnings - Wagner's victory over Colgate (12/1/08) also marked the first time in the history of the Spiro Sports Center (opened Feb. 1999) that the Green & White had won its first three home contests. It also gave the Seahawks a perfect 3-0 record at home for the first time since 1996-1997.

Olsen Hits The Big 2-0 - Olsen hit for a career-high with 20 points, on 8-17 shooting, against Sacred Heart on January 24, 2009, eclipsing her previous mark of 18 set on two occasions. Last year, she was second on the squad in scoring (8.5 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.6 rpg).

She's Going The Distance - Olsen also Wagner in 40-minute games, playing at least 40 minutes five times and was on the court for a career-high 43 minutes vs. SFNY (1/3).

Double-Double Club - Three current Seahawks have notched double-doubles. Reed has three while Olsen and Hicks each recorded one last year.

Of Note - Wagner's 82 points scored in its win over NJIT (11/18/08) was statistically significant for two reasons. First, it matched the Green & White's highest point total in the nine-year history of the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks also hit for 82 points in an 82-68 win over the Mount on Feb. 24, 2003. Secondly, the 82 points marked the first time Wagner scored 80 points or more since an 81-59 win at Long Island on Jan. 21, 2004 - a span of 125 games.

Five Spot - The Green & White placed five student-athletes in double-figures vs. NJIT (11/18/08) for the first time since Nov. 24, 2002 against Colgate midway through George W. Bush's first term in office - a span of 168 games.

Second-Half Superstar - For the second-straight year Reed elevated her game after halftime, averaging a team-best 6.7 ppg after intermission, including 3.2 ppg during the last five minutes, while shooting 43.0 percent.

Meet The Assistants - Assistant coaches Maureen Hannafin and Art Redmond are in their fourth seasons on Grymes Hill while Whitney Ffrench is back for her second year.

Hannafin was a four-year starter and was inducted into the Wagner College Hall of Fame in 2004. She helped lead the Seahawks to their only NEC title in 1989 while being named the NEC Player of the Year.
Redmond like Hannafin played his collegiate basketball on Grymes Hill and was elected into the Wagner College Hall of Fame in 2001. He was a 1,000 point scorer for the Green & White.

Ffrench was a four-year letterwinner at Saint Joseph's where she led the Hawks to three WNIT appearances and two Atlantic 10 Championship games.

Success Is Contagious - Wagner's coaching staff is hoping that success is contagious. The Seahawks boast the only coaching staff in America that has three coaches, who are all members of their current employer's Athletic Hall of Fame. Mikalauskas is in the HOF as coach while Redmond and Hannafin were standout players during the 1980s.

Wagner Connections - Assistant coach Maureen Hannafin played for head coach Gela Mikalauskas from 1985-1989. Olsen suited up for Hannafin and her husband John at Notre Dame Academy from 2003-2007. Clark's aunt, Grace Paterno, played for Mikalauskas from 1981-1985 and is a member of the Wagner College Athletics Hall of Fame. She also coached Ann Marie Carmody, who is married to Monmouth head football coach Kevin Callahan. Carmody is also the sister of current Northwestern men's basketball coach Bill Carmody.

On The Air - The Seahawk Broadcasting Network returns for its eighth season of broadcasting Wagner women's basketball. All home games and selected away games will be broadcast live by John and Alan Barr, who served as the official voices of the Seahawks for the third-straight year. The first broadcast will be when Wagner hosts American on Saturday November 28 at 3:00 pm.