BOX SCORE
HIGHLIGHTS FROM KELLY CLARK'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE
HIGHLIGHTS FROM MEGAN MAHONEY'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Staten Island, NY – Fairleigh Dickinson's Mariyah Laury scored a career-high 38 points and the Knights shot 65 percent in the second half to pull away for an 83-71 Northeast Conference (NEC) victory over Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center.

With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 10-13 on the season, 3-9 in the NEC while FDU improves to 12-11, 5-7 in league play.

Senior guard Megan Mahoney (Staten Island, NY/ St. Peter's) notched her second double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds while junior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose) registered her fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Seahawks.

Laury scored 22 of her 38 points in the second half, shooting 8-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. As a team, the Knights were 17-of-26 (65.4%) from the field and 15-of-19 (79 percent) from the charity stripe. For the game, she wound up 14-of-19 from the field and 8-of-11 from the line. Laury's career performance led four players who finished in double figures for the Knights. Jordan Sykes tossed in 14 points while Mayrose and Danielle Pankey finished with 10 points apiece.

Wagner took a 32-30 lead into halftime behind 12 points and six rebounds from Clark. The teams played nearly dead even the first 12 minutes of the second half before the Knights got hot down the stretch. The Seahawks scored their first six points of the second half to open a 38-30 lead with 18:12 to go. Senior forward Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY/ Notre Dame Academy) hit a jumper 15 seconds into the second half which was followed by a Mahoney layup at the 18:48 mark and two Olsen free throws with 18:12 to go. Olsen's free throws were the result of a technical foul called on FDU's Esther Wallace.

FDU bounced back with a 16-7 run, aided by nine points by Laury, including a three-pointer with 11:42 to go which gave the Knights the lead for good at 46-45. Layups by Alyssa Mayrose and Laury made it 50-45 before a three-pointer by Mahoney off an assist from senior guard Stephanie McBride (Mechanicville, NY/ Catholic Central) with 9:38 to go cut it to 50-48.

The Knights then went on the pivotal run of the game, a 17-5 burst which swelled the lead to 67-53 with 3:45 to go. Laury, who came into the game as the NEC's second-leading scorer at 15.4 ppg, again was the key to this run with seven points, including an old-fashioned three-pointer to cap the run at the 3:45 mark. The Seahawks fought back, embarking on a 15-8 run behind six points from Mahoney and four points from sophomore guard Veronick Fournier (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) to slice the deficit to 75-68 with 38 seconds left in the game. But the Seahawks were forced to foul on each possession in the waning seconds as the Knights padded their lead by going 7-of-8 from the line in forging the 12-point victory.

McBride followed up her 13-point outing in Saturday's win over Monmouth with a nine-point effort off the bench to go with four assists in 21 minutes of action as she continues to round into form after missing four games due a lacerated forehead suffered on Jan. 10 vs. Robert Morris. Fournier also had her second consecutive solid offensive performance. On Saturday, she knocked in 11 points vs. Monmouth and came back with nine points tonight, along with eight rebounds.

For the game, the Knights out-shot the Seahawks 49 percent to 38 percent while Wagner enjoyed a commanding 47-33 edge in the rebounding department. Wagner was hurt by 18 turnovers while FDU turned the ball over just 10 times.

In the first half, Clark scored 12 points and grabbed six boards as Wagner took a 32-30 lead into halftime. FDU took its last lead of the half at 3-2 on two free throws by Esther Wallace at the 17:36 mark. Wagner took a six-point lead at 25-19 on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) with 5:49 left in the half. The teams traded baskets before Clark again pushed the lead back to six at 27-21 with 5:15 to go in the half. The Knights then closed the half on a 9-5 burst to draw to within two at the half.

Laury led all scorers with 16 first-half points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Wagner out-shot FDU 44 percent to 33 percent in the first half and held a 22-18 edge in rebounds. Wagner turned the ball over 10 times in the opening half while the Knights had seven turnovers.

Wagner is next in action on Saturday, February 12 when the Seahawks play host to Mount St. Mary's in a 4:00 p.m. clash.