BOX SCORE

Hanover, NH –Senior guard Megan Mahoney (Staten Island, NY/ St. Peter's) tossed in 18 points and sophomore forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) added 17 as Wagner combined a balanced offense with tenacious defense in running past Vermont 68-40 in the first round of the Blue Sky Classic at Dartmouth University.

With the victory, the Seahawks improve to 6-5 on the season while the Catamounts fall to 0-11. Wagner will face Dartmouth on Thursday night in a 7:00 pm tip-off.

Mahoney turned in a sensational floor game. In addition to her 18 points, which came on 6-of-10 shooting, the 5-7 guard registered seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 37 minutes of action.

“Megan was outstanding and Marie hitting some three-pointers (4-of-8) loosened up their defense,” said Wagner head coach Gela Mikalauskas. “I thought our defensive intensity was the key the win for us tonight. We put a big emphasis on defense going into the game and I thought we did an excellent job on the defensive end, maintaining our intensity for 40 minutes.

“Offensively, we were balanced in our scoring with four players in double figures and I really liked how we handled the ball in the second half," Mikalauskas added. "We had 14 turnovers for the game but just four in the second half.”

With the score tied at 8-8, Wagner went on a 7-0 run to build a 15-8 cushion. Mahoney triggered the run with a jumper and Archambault capped it off with an old-fashioned three-point play. Following a layup by Vermont's Lauren Wheeler that made it 15-10, Wagner embarked on a 13-2, capped by a jumper in the lane by junior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose) that staked the Seahawks to a 23-12 lead with 8:36 remaining in the half. Wagner would build the lead to 35-22 at halftime.

Wagner opened the second half with a 10-0 run, holding the Catamounts scoreless for the first four minutes in ballooning the lead to 45-22 on a layup by sophomore guard Veronick Fournier (Gatineau, Quebec / Montmorency) with 15:25 remaining in the game. Vermont cut the lead to 17 at 48-21 on a basket by Ashley Hoyt at the 9:55 mark, but that's as close as the Seahawks would allow the Catamounts to get the rest of the way.

The biggest lead of the game was 30 at 68-38 with 41 seconds left to play. Joining Mahoney and Archambault in double figures were Clark and senior forward Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY/ Notre Dame Academy) who checked in with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Clark added a team-high 10 rebounds in registering her second double-double of the season.

Lauren Buschmann scored the first 12 points of the game for Vermont and then didn't score the rest of the game. Those 12 points were good for team-high honors and made her the Catamounts' only double-digit scorer.

Wagner shot 43 percent from the field while holding Vermont to 31 percent shooting. The Seahawks were particularly effective on the perimeter as the Catamounts connected on just 1-of-14 from beyond the arc. Wagner held a healthy 44-33 edge in the rebounding department.

NOTES – The 28 point-win marks the largest margin of victory for the Seahawks since February 1, 2003 when Wagner defeated Robert Morris by a 32-point margin, 75-43. Senior guard Stephanie McBride (Mechanicville, NY/ Catholic Central) was back in uniform after sitting out the last three games with a knee injury and saw 12 minutes of action, scoring two points. Olsen has now hit the double-figure mark in five straight games. Clark recorded a season-high four blocks. Wagner had 15 assists on 23 made field goals while turning the ball over 14 times. The 44 rebounds are a season-high for the Seahawks. The 40 points are the fewest allowed by the Seahawks this season and are the fewest points allowed by Wagner since December 1, 2001 when the Seahawks posted a 46-40 victory over Manhattan.