FINAL STATS

Hamden, CT – Senior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose) tallied 15 points, including the 1,000^th of her career, and freshman forward Stephanie Blais (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Monmorency) added a career-high 14 points but Wagner was unable to dig itself out of an early hole as Quinnipiac posted its fifth straight Northeast Conference (NEC) victory, outscoring the Seahawks 77-60.

Guard Felecia Barron led a balanced Bobcat scoring attack with a game-high 17 points while Kari Goodchild and Brittany McQuain added 15 and 10 points, respectively as Quinnipiac improves to 15-5 on the season, 7-2 in the NEC. In suffering their 13^th straight defeat, the Seahawks fall to 2-18 overall, 1-8 in league play.

Quinnipiac's defensive pressure forced four consecutive turnovers to start the game which the Bobcats parlayed into an 8-0 lead just 1:42 into the game. Wagner responded with five consecutive points of its own on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Laura Amorosa (Kirkland, Quebec/ Phillips Academy) and the first of four three-point jumpers by Blais.

The Bobcats then surged ahead, using a 9-0 run to open a 17-5 lead. The run was fueled by five points from Barron, who capped it with a free throw at the 12:31 mark. When Clark made one of two free throws with 5:58 left, it drew Wagner to within nine at 26-17. Barron then answered with a three-pointer with 4:55 to go in the half, which pushed the lead to 12 at 29-17 and Quinnipiac maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game.

After going into the locker room at halftime on top 38-24, Quinnipiac put the game out of reach by outscoring the Seahawks 21-8 over the first 4:38 of the second half as the lead swelled to 55-32 with 15:22 remaining in the game. During this Bobcat spurt, Clark scored six of Wagner's points, employing an assortment of deft low post moves. Clark, who entered the game with 990 career points, scored five first-half points, all from the free throw line.

Entering the second half with five more to go to reach 1,000, the 6-3 Clark hit a layup at 19:06 that gave her seven points and another with 17:56 to go which put her on the precipice of the milestone. Some 1:32 later, at the 16:24 mark, Clark converted a jumper in the lane to give her 11 points on the game and 1,001 for her career. She would go on to add four more points and will enter Monday's game at Sacred Heart with 1,005 career points.

The Seahawks were buoyed by the fine play of each of their four freshmen. Blais played her finest all-around game as a Seahawk with her career-high14 points coming on 4-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. The four made three-pointers tied her career high, while the 10 attempted field goals set a new high. The four three-pointers made and nine three-pointers attempted were also career highs as were her seven rebounds and 29 minutes played.

Wagner's two-headed freshman point guard tandem also turned in a host of positives on the afternoon. Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA/ St. Basil Academy) scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting with two assists and two rebounds while Shawn-Marie Heiliger (Charlotte, NC/ Charlotte Catholic) added seven points while dishing out a career-high five assists and pulling down a career-high four rebounds.

Freshman center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, NY/ Valley Stream South) made her presence felt in the low post in fashioning the most productive game of her young career. The 6-3 Nwaigwe recorded career highs with eight points and six rebounds in a impressive 11-minute stint. She was 4-of-6 from the line, both career highs, and 2-of-4 from the floor.

The shooting numbers for the two teams were virtually the same with Quinnipiac shooting 33.8 percent (24-of-71) while Wagner was 33.3% (18-of-54). Wagner held a slim 46-45 edge in the rebounding department with Clark leading the way with nine, followed by Blais (7), while Nwaigwe and junior forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) had six boards each.

The biggest disparity in the game came in the turnover department as Wagner turned it over 24 times while the Bobcats turned it over just 10 times.

Wagner returns to the Nutmeg State on Monday, January 30 when the Seahawks travel to Fairfield, CT to meet the Pioneers of Sacred Heart in a 7:00 pm tip.

NOTES  - In becoming the 22^nd player in Wagner history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, Clark becomes the first Seahawk to do so since Chelsey Bunyer reached the mark during the 2007-08 season. Bunyer went on to score 1,220 career points, which is 14^th on the Wagner all-time list.