BOX SCORE

Hamden, CT – Quinnipiac jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead, eventually built the lead to 53-31 at the half, withstood a Wagner second half rally , and went on to post an 85-72 victory in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams.

With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 3-3 on the season, 0-1 in the NEC while the Bobcats improve to 2-6 on the year, 1-0 in the NEC.

Wagner had trouble solving Quinnipiac's 2-3 zone in the first half, shooting just 38 percent from the field. Senior guard Megan Mahoney (Staten Island, NY/ St. Peter') had all of her 12 of her points in the opening half while senior forward Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY/ Notre Dame Academy) had nine of her season-high 18 points in the opening stanza.

Quinnipiac shot 54 percent in the opening half with Alyssa Jann leading the way with 11 first-half points.

Shelby Sferra hit the first bucket of the second half to give the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game of 24 at 55-31. Wagner then responded as senior guard Stephanie McBride (Mechanicville, NY/ Catholic Central) and sophomore forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) each drilled a pair of three-point jumpers to fuel a 16-4 run that cut the deficit to 12 at 59-47 with 12:59 remaining in the game. But that is as close as the Seahawks would get as Quinnipiac answered with a 17-9 run of its own to balloon the lead to 20 at 76-56 with six minutes to play.

Trailing 80-57 with 4:53 remaining, Wagner 's full-court pressing defense sparked the Seahawks to a game-ending 15-5 spurt to fashion the final score of 85-72.

Wagner outscored Quinnipiac 41-32 in the second half and had four players finish in double figures for the game. In addition to Olsen's 18 and Mahoney's 12, McBride and Archambault wound up with 12 points apiece while sophomore guard Veronick Fournier (Gatineau, Quebec/ Montmorency) chipped in with eight. Wagner, which shot 38 percent overall from the field was also 38 percent from beyond the arc.

The Seahawks were 13-of-34 from three-point range, including 9-of-20 (45 percent) in the second half.
Quinnipiac shot 54 percent from the field in the first half in forging the 53-31 halftime lead but just 33 percent in the second half to finish at 47 percent for the game. The Bobcats won the battle of the boards 45-32. Quinnipiac also had four players in double figures with guard Felicia Barron leading the way with 14 points. Sferra added 12 while Jann and McQuain finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Bobcats shot a blistering 83 percent (25-of-30) from the free throw line.

The Seahawks are next in action on Tuesday, Dec. 7 when they play host to NJIT in a 7:00 pm tip-off.

NOTES – Olsen led the Seahawks in rebounding with nine, finishing one board away from a double-double. It marked the third time this season that she had nine caroms. She also registered a career-high five assists. McBride dished out a career-high seven assists and had season highs in three-pointers made (4) and attempted (10). Wagner set season highs in points (72), assists (19), three-pointers made (13), three-pointers attempted (34) and free throw percentage (68.8). The 34 three-point attempts are the most by the Seahawks since they took 35 at Lafayette (11/13/09). The 13 made three-pointers are the most since Dec. 8, 2009 when the Seahawks drained 15 vs. Columbia. Wagner has three players averaging in double figures for the season in Mahoney (12.3), junior center Kelly Clark(Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose) (11.3) and Archambault (11.2).