FINAL STATS
Staten Island, NY – For the second straight year, Wagner and Army opened the season with an overtime affair and it was the Seahawks coming out on top by a 52-48 count behind a staunch defensive effort and 14 points from senior guard Megan Mahoney (Staten Island, NY/ St. Peter's).
Wagner forged a 27-26 halftime lead in a defensive-minded opening half. The Seahawks then opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 38-28 with 11:41 remaining in the game on a driving layup by junior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose).
But the feisty Lady Knights fought back, causing six Wagner turnovers during one stretch to get right back into the game. Army's Laura Baranek hit two big layups and Meagan Doucette drained a three-point jumper with 45 seconds left to play to cap a 13-1 run and give the Lady Knights a 41-39 lead. Wagner came right back on its next possession as sophomore guard Veronick Fournier (Gatineau, Quebec) banked home a runner in the lane with 22 seconds left to tie the game at 41-41. Army then called a timeout but turned the ball over with 3.8 seconds to go .
Following a Wagner timeout, a three-point try by Stephanie McBride (Mechanicville, NY/ Catholic Central) at the buzzer bounded off the rim as the game went into overtime. Wagner quickly took charge of the game in overtime as senior forward Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY/ Notre Dame Academy) hit a layup to give the Seahawks the lead for good 23 seconds into overtime. Mahoney then followed by drilling a three-point jumper with 4:16 left to give the Seahawks a 46-41 lead with 4:16 to go.
After Army cut it to 46-44 on a three-pointer by Baranek, Wagner answered with a clutch three-point jumper by senior guard McBride with 2:18 left to push the lead back to five at the 2:18 mark. Leading 49-46, the Seahawks sealed the game on a layup by senior center Nyoto Patterson (Teaneck, NJ/ Manhattan Center) with 26 seconds left overtime to give Wagner a 51-46 lead.
At the outset of the game, Wagner's tight defense limited the Lady Knights to 2-of-15 shooting from the field as the Seahawks raced out to an early 12-5 lead. Army responded with an 11-4 spurt thanks to a flurry of three-point shots to knot the Game at 16-16 with 7:44 remaining in the opening stanza.
Army stayed in the game throughout the first half largely due to its proficiency from beyond the arc as the Lady Knights were 4-of-10 on three-pointers in the opening half. Army took its first lead of the game 24-22 on a driving layup by Nalini Hawkins with 2:50 to go in the half. Wagner regained the lead at 25-24 on a layup by Clark with 1:22 and eventually went into halftime clinging to a 27-26 lead.
Wagner limited Army to 7-of-29 shooting from the field (24.1%) but the Lady Knights were 8-of-10 from the free throw line as opposed to Wagner's 4-of-9.
Fournier was Wagner's secnd-leading scorer on the evening, finishing with a career-high nine points while Patterson and McBride wound up with seven and six points, respectively. McBride also hauled in a career-high nine rebounds. Doucette had a team-high 13 points for Army while Baranek added 10 points.
Wagner head coach Gela Mikalauskas is now 10-7 in season openers while the Seahawks improved to 20-21 as a program in season-opening games.
Wagner is next in action on Saturday, Nov. 20 when the Seahawks travel to Siena to meet the Saints in a 2:00 pm tip-off.
