FINAL STATS

New Britain, CT – Wagner got out to its best start of the season, building an early 24-10 lead before Central Connecticut St. (CCSU) used a late first-half burst to draw within 28-27 at halftime and then broke open a close game in the second half with a game-ending 20-12 spurt in pulling away for a 79-66 win.

This was a close, competitive game, one that featured five lead changes and four ties and was marked by big runs orchestrated by both teams.

Junior guard Veronick Fournier (Gatineau, Quebec/ Montmorency) led the Seahawks with 16 points, one shy of her career high, on 6-of-13 shooting along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals while not committing a single turnover in a route-going 40-minute effort. Freshman forward Stephanie Blais (Sherbrooke, Quebec/ Montmorency) scored 11 of her 13 points in the opening half while junior forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) notched 10 of her 12 points in the second half.

Freshman point guard Shawn-Marie Heiliger (Charlotte,NC/ Charlotte Catholic) played a solid floor game with seven points, two assists and one steal in a productive 12-minute stint. The Blue Devils did a nice defensive job on Wagner's leading scorer Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose). Coming into the game averaging team highs with 14.1 points and 7.8 rebounds, she was held to six points on 2-of-9 shooting while grabbing six rebounds.

With 7:47 left in the game, Heiliger hit a driving layup that cut a seven-point deficit to two at 56-54. But Blue Devil sophomore forward Lauren Arbogast, who led all scorers with 27 points,  answered with a layup of her own to spark a 12-0 run over the next 3:12 in opening a 14-point lead at 68-54 with 5:14 to go.

A three-pointer by Fournier followed by a layup by fellow Canadian and former high school teammate Archambault  cut the deficit to nine at 70-61 with 2:12 left but Wagner would get no closer as the Blue Devils went on to post the 79-66 victory.

With Wagner trailing 8-4 at the 16:40 mark of the first half, the Seahawks put together their best run of the season,  a 20-2 burst over a  span of 7:37 that contained within it a 17-0 run,  that put the Seahawks in front 24-10 at the 9:03 mark. The run was started by a layup from freshman center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, NY/ Valley Stream South) and highlighted by consecutive three-point jumpers by Fournier, Blais and freshman point guard Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA/ St. Basil Academy).Layups by Nwaigwe and Fournier, sandwiched around a Blais jumper, completed the 17-0 run. After CCSU's Kaley Watras ended the Blue Devil drought with a jumper, Wagner responded with a Fournier layup and a Heiliger free throw that capped the 20-2 run and gave the Seahawks their biggest lead of the game, and the season, at 24-10 with 10:24 left.

It was at this juncture when CCSU responded with its half-closing 20-12 spurt that drew the Devils with 28-27 at intermission. Blais led all scorers in the opening half with 11 while Fournier had seven. Johnna Fisher led CCSU with eight first-half points.
At the outset of the second half, the Blue Devils took their first lead since the early going on a Danielle Davis layup at the 19:26 mark to go up 29-28. After Clark tied the game at 29-29, Fournier sank a pair of free throws at the 18:53 juncture which gave the Seahawks their final lead of the game at 31-29. An Arbogast layup followed by a Fisher jumper at 17:42 gave the Blue Devils the lead for good at 33-31.

CCSU out-shot Wagner 49 percent to 37 percent while out-rebounding the Seahawks 43-37. The Blue Devils, based largely on the 13-of-15 shooting from the field from Arbogast, held a commanding 50-26 lead in points in the paint. Arbogast's 27-point outing led four players in double figures as Watras and Fisher had 16 points each while Jessica Babe chipped in with 11.

With the defeat, Wagner's 21^st straight, the Seahawks fall to 2-26 on the season, 1-16 in the Northeast Conference while CCSU improves to 12-16 overall, 6-11 in league.

Wagner will conclude the 2011-12 season on Monday, February 27 when the Seahawks travel to Smithfield, RI to meet the Bulldogs of Bryant.