FINAL STATS

West Point, NY – West Point, NY – Molly Yardley scored 16 points and Anna Simmers added 14 to lead the Black Knights of Army to a 70-46 victory over the Wagner College Seahawks in the season opener for both teams.

Senior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose) and freshman point guard Shawn-Marie Heiliger (Charlotte, NC/ Charlotte Catholic) tossed in 10 points apiece to pace the Seahawks on the offensive end.

After taking an early 4-0 lead on buckets by  redshirt junior forward Chanez Robinson (Newark, NJ / Malcolm X Shabazz), a 6-2 transfer from Northeastern, and Clark, the Black Knights embarked on a 19-2 run over the next 10:12 to open up a sizable 19-6 cushion en route to a 35-15 halftime lead.
 
During the 19-2 run, which was capped by a free throw by Olivia Schretman with 8:02 left in the half, Wagner went 0-for-7 from the field while committing six turnovers. Conversely, Army went 6-for-10 from the field in this stretch with Jessica Waggoner leading the way with six points while Yardley adding four. Contained in the 19-2 run was a 12-0 Black Knight burst.
 
Army extended its lead to 28-8 with 3:40 left in the first half as the Seahawks were shooting just 3-of-21 (14.3 percent) from the field at this juncture. The Black Knights opened up their biggest lead of the opening half of 22 at 35-13 on a Yardley layup with 1:17 left.  
 
Wagner shot a cold 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from the field in the opening half while Army was 14-of-33 (42.4%).
 
In the second half, Army picked up where it left off at the end of the first half, going on a quick 9-0 run 54 seconds into the half, capped by a Janelle Travis layup at the 18:02 mark to give the Black Knights their biggest lead of the game at 44-15.
 
From that point forward, Wagner played its best basketball of the game, out-scoring Army 31-26 the rest of the way. Factoring in Army's 9-0 run to start the second half, the Black Knights outscored Wagner by just a 35-31 margin over the final 20 minutes.
 
Five Seahawks saw the first action of their careers. In addition to Robinson and Heiliger, each of whom was in the starting lineup, newcomers off the bench for Wagner included a trio of freshmen in 5-3 point guard Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA/ St. Basil Academy), 6-2 forward Stephanie Blais (Sherbrooke, Quebec/ Montmorency) and 6-3 center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, NY/ Valley Stream South).
 
Robinson led the Seahawks in rebounds with nine while Clark added seven boards. In addition to Heiliger's 10 points (and team-high four assists), fellow freshmen Thompson and Nwaigwe added six points apiece. Nwaigwe was particularly productive, adding three rebounds and a block in just seven minutes of playing time.
 
Wagner is next in action on Wednesday, November 16 wwhen the Seahawks play their home opener vs. Columbia at 5:00 pm in the first game of a doubleheader at the Spiro Sports Center. In the nightcap, the Seahawk men's basketball team will play North-Carolina Central in its home opener. The men's game will be televised live on Time-Warner Cable.