Box Score FINAL STATS

Brooklyn Heights, NY – Senior forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) tossed in a game-high 20 points while senior guard Veronick Fournier (Gatineau, Quebec/ Montmorency) and sophomore forward Stephanie Blais (Sherbrooke, Quebec/ Montmorency) added 11 and 10 points, respectively as the Wagner women's basketball team overcame an 18-point second-half deficit in posting a 52-48 win at St. Francis Brooklyn.

The victory comes over a Terrier team that is having its best season in recent history, having entered the game with an 8-7 record in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and an overall mark of 11-15.

In snapping an 11-game losing streak, the Green & White improve to 3-24 on the season, 2-14 in the NEC. All three Wagner victories have come on the road and all have occurred in New York City. On November 14, Wagner knocked off Columbia 61-47 in Morningside Heights. Win number two for the Seahawks came by a 74-70 count at LIU Brooklyn on January 14. 

Wagner fell behind early by counts of 6-0, 9-1 and 20-8 in a sluggish first half that saw the Terriers run out to a 30-16 halftime lead. Wagner shot an ice cold 17 percent from the field (5-for-28) and weren't much better from three-point range, hitting at an 18 percent clip (2-of-11) from deep.

Wagner missed its first three shots of the second half as the Terriers outscored the Seahawks 7-3 at the outset in building their biggest lead of the game of 18 at 37-19 on a pair of Jessica Kaufman free throws with 16:48 left to play in the game. With her team behind by 16, Archambault delivered a shot in the arm to the Seahawks by nailing a pair of three-pointers in a 40-second span that gave Wagner hope, while making it a 10-point game at 37-27 with 13:56 left.

The teams traded baskets until Archambault hit two free throws with 7:38 left to draw Wagner to within 43-38. At the 7:10 mark, Fournier hit a jumper after receiving a feed from sophomore guard Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA/ St. Basil Academy) which made it 43-40. Then, at the 6:34 mark, Archambault struck again, draining a three-pointer off a Blais assist which forged the game's first tie at 43-43.

After trailing by 18, the Seahawks had climbed the summit, outscoring the Terriers 24-6 over a span of 10:14, turning a 37-19 deficit into the 43-43 deadlock.

With the game again knotted at 45-45, Blais hit a jumper off a Fournier feed to give the Seahawks their first lead of the game at 47-45 with 5:02 remaining. Neither team could find the range until Blais shook loose for a layup on an Archambault assist with 3:38 left to put Wagner in front 49-45. Both teams then went scoreless for the next 3:05 until Sarah Benedetti nailed a three-pointer for the Terriers to make it a one-point game at 49-48 with 33 ticks remaining.

Following a timeout, the Seahawks then executed a well-designed halfcourt set that culminated in junior forward Laura Amorosa (Kirkland, Quebec/ Phillips Academy) hitting a driving Fournier for a layup that made it 51-48 with 21 seconds left. A Fournier free throw at 19 seconds, that made it 52-48, was followed by a missed Benedetti three-pointer as the Seahawks hung on for the victory.

This was game was truly a tale of two halves as Wagner outshot St. Francis Brooklyn 48 percent (12-of-25) to 27 percent (6-of-22) and did a better job on the boards, out-rebounding the Terriers 14-11. 

For the game, the Seahawks held a slim 32 percent to 31 percent edge in shooting, while the Terriers managed a scant 39-38 edge in the rebounding department.

Benedetti paced St. Francis Brooklyn with 13 points and was followed by Jaymee Veney and Leah Fechko who tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Now that Wagner has completed a sweep of its two neighboring Brooklyn NEC rivals, the Seahawks will turn their attention to a pair of games vs. New Jersey foes that will conclude the 2012-2013 season. On Saturday, March 2, Wagner travels to West Long Branch to meet Monmouth in a 3:00 pm tip. Two nights later, on Monday, March 4, the Seahawks head to Northern New Jersey where they will face Fairleigh Dickinson in a 7:00 pm start in Hackensack.

The three wins exceeds last season's win total of two and the three roasd wins mark the most by Wagner since the 2010-2011 squad posted four.