FINAL STATS

Charlottesville, VA - Senior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ St. Rose) scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half vs. Elon as Wagner, once down by 16 points, staged a furious comeback in forging a 46-46 tie before falling 60-57 in the third-place game of the Marriott Cavalier Classic at the University of Virginia.

In addition to her 20-point outing, the 6-3 Clark pulled down 10 rebounds in recording her fourth double-double of the season and eighth of her career. Clark has now hit for double figures in 10 of Wagner's 13 games this season and is the team leader in scoring (13.2) and rebounding (7.3). She has now scored 20 or more points four times this season.

Responding to her third consecutive start, senior forward Brittney Thorpe (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) delivered her third consecutive productive outing, matching her career high with 14 points while ripping down a season-high seven rebounds. For her efforts last night vs. Virginia and today vs. Elon, Thorpe, who shot 48 percent in the two games (10-of-21), was named to the Marriott Cavalier Classic All-Tournament Team. The 6-0 Thorpe averaged 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds during the Classic. She totaled seven points and five rebounds against Virginia's tall, athletic front court last night.

Elon took a lead it would never relinquish on a pair of free throws by Amy Coffer to make it 2-0 with 17:34 to go in the first half. The next seven minutes were played on even terms, with each team scoring 13 points, as a free throw by redshirt junior forward Chanez Robinson (Newark, NJ/ Shabazz) with 7:30 left in the half made it a 15-13 game. The Phoenix then ended the half on a 16-6 run in building a seemingly comfortable 31-19 halftime lead.

A 6-2 spurt by the Phoenix opened their biggest lead of the game at 37-21 at the 16:09 mark of the second half. The Seahawks then quickly got themselves back into the game with an 8-0 run over a span of 3:40 to get to within single digits at 37-29 with 12:29 left. Junior forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) started the rally with a jumper off an assist from freshman point guard Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA/ St. Basil Academy).

Fellow freshman point guard Shawn-Marie Heiliger (Charlotte, NC/ Charlotte Catholic) then had a hand three big sequences to further fuel the Seahawks' 8-0 run. The 5-6 frosh sank two free throws before hitting a cutting Clark for a driving layup that sliced the deficit to 37-27 with 12:43 left. Heiliger then came up with a steal whch led to an Archambault layup that made it an eight-point game with 12:29 to go.

After Ali Ford drained a three-pointer for Elon at the 12:23 mark to push the lead back to 11 at 40-29, Wagner methodically, yet effectively, chipped away at the Phoenix lead, outscoring Elon 17-9 over a 6:35 span to knot the score at 46-46 with 5:54 to go.

Wagner showed excellent ball movement during its 17-9 surge as five different Seahawks found the scoring column with Clark leading the way with six. Thompson scored all three of her points in the run with a big three-pointer with 8:51 left that cut the lead to six at 44-38. Heilger and Thorpe also hit buckets during the spree while Archambault added two free throws. Clark capped the run with a pair from the charity stripe as well which forged the 46-46 tie with 5:54 to go.

Elon then went on a 7-2 run, capped by a Kelsey Evans jumper with 3:23 left, to open a 53-48 advantage. But the Seahawks refused to go away as Thomspon, the 5-3 diminutive dynamo, nailed her second clutch trey to make it 53-51 with 3:06 left. The Seahawks would get as close as one point on a pair of Clark foul shots with 2:21 to go to make it 54-53. Evans then drained consecutive jumpers  to push the lead back to five at 58-53 with 51 seconds left en route to hanging on for the 61-57 win.

Evans led the Phoenix with 18 points on 9-of-15 shooting while Aiesha Harper added 13 points while handing out a game-high eight assists.  Statistically, the game was nearly dead even as both teams shot 35 percent from the field while Elon held a slim 41-40 rebounding edge.

Elon, a member of the Southern Conference, evened its season mark at 6-6 with the win over Wagner. In dropping their sixth straight game, the Seahawks fall to 2-11 on the season. Wagner, which is 1-1 in the Northeast Conference, has now completed the non-conference portion of its schedule and will conclude the season with 16 consecutive league games, beginning with a road tilt at Monmouth on Sat., Jan. 7 at 3:00 pm.

NOTES - In addition to Clark's 20 and Thorpe's 14, Thompson was the third Seahawk in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a 2-of-3 effort from beyond the arc, while adding four assists. Thorpe has averaged 11.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in her last three outings. After going for a season-best 12 points in the Seahawks' overtime loss to New Hampshire on Dec. 21, the 6-0 Thorpe followed up with seven points and five rebounds vs. Virginia's tall and athletic front line last night prior to today's 14-point, seven-rebound affair. Clark was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. As a team, the Seahawks shot a season-high 93 percent from the line on 13-of-14 shooting. The 13 made free throws are the second-highest output of the season from the charity stripe for the Seahawks. Wagner received important minutes and contributions from Heiliger who scored four points along with two assists, two steals and one rebound in a 26-minute stint. Archambault also made her mark in several statistical columns with six points, four rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Host Virginia claimed the Marriott Cavalier Classic Championship with a 53-38 victory over UMass.

All-Tournament Team
Brittney Thorpe, Wagner
Aiesha Harper, Elon
Megan Zullo, UMass
Jasmine Watson, UMass
Ataira Franklin, Virginia
Ariana Moorer, Virginia *

*Most Valuable Player