BOX SCORE

Staten Island, NY - Sacred Heart jumped out to a 15-point lead early in the second half before withstanding a frantic Wagner rally en route to a 71-64 wire-to-wire win at the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks fall to 7-14 and 4-6 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the reigning league champion Pioneers improve to 16-5 and 9-1 in the NEC.

Senior Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) scored a season-high 20 points, on 8-of-17 shooting, with five rebounds, pacing four double-figure scorers for the Green & White. Junior Sha'Ron Harrison (Paterson, NJ / John F. Kennedy) hit for all 12 points in the second half while pulling down six rebounds. Classmate Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds and freshman Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec / Montmorency) chipped in with 10 points.

After Alisa Apo hit a lay-up at the 7:47 mark of the second half, pushing the Sacred Heart lead out to 15 at 63-48, Wagner began to whittle away at the lead. Olsen connected on four-straight from the line before junior Megan Mahoney (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) drilled a pair, cutting the lead to 63-54 with 4:40 remaining. Apo quelled the spurt with a lay-up and the Pioneers appeared to be in control, pushing the lead back out to 12 at 69-57 with 2:08.

The Green & White, however, would not go quietly into the brisk winter night, ripping off seven-straight points. Archambault hit a pair of shots, sandwiched in between a Reed jumper, making it 69-63 with 24 seconds remaining. On the ensuing inbounds play, Apo was whistled for an offensive charge and Reed drew a foul on the next play. After hitting the first free throw, she missed on the second thus ending any chances of a Wagner victory as Kiley Evans capped her 20-point night with two from the line, providing the final 71-64 tally.

“Sacred Heart finds a way to win, they're a good team,” offered coach Gela Mikalauskas, whose Seahawks fell behind as many as 15 in the second half before rallying only to run out of time.”They do the things that makes a school a winning team.”

Evans scored 15 of her team-high 20 points after intermission and added seven caroms. Apo finished with 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds while Maggie Cosgrove notched 14 first-half points, on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Seahawks controlled the glass by a 43-39 margin, including 18-11 on the offensive end leading to a 13-9 advantage in second-chance points. Wagner was done in by allowing Sacred Heart to shoot 43.9 percent (25-57), including 63.6 percent (7-11) from beyond the arc. The Green & White made good on 35.9 percent (23-64), but was just 21.1 percent (4-19) from long range, including 0-of-7 in the second stanza.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 9-3 lead as Cosgrove opened the game with a three, tying the SHU career mark. The Sacred Heart lead grew to 25-13 by the 7:40 mark as the junior guard became the Pioneer all-time leader in the three point makes with her second of the day.

The Seahawks cut the lead to seven thanks to a three-point play from freshman Veronick Fournier (Gatineau, Quebec / Montmorency) at the 5:44 mark, but back-to-back three's by Taylor and Cosgrove pushed the SHU lead to 33-22. Wagner again chipped away and with consecutive three pointers from Archambault as the Seahawks cut it to 33-29 with 1:38 to go in the first, before Cosgrove's fourth three triple of the first half pushed the lead out to 36-29 at intermission.

Wagner, which has now lost 11-straight to Sacred Heart, returns to action on Thursday, February 4 when the Seahawks head to Mount St. Mary's. Tip time is slated for 5:00 pm.