New Britain, CT - The Wagner women's basketball team begins Northeast Conference (NEC) play on Thursday, December 29 when the Seahawks travel to New Britain, CT to meet the Central Connecticut Blue Devils in a 7:00 p.m. start at Detrick Gymnasium.
About the Seahawks:
Wagner (1-10) is under the direction of first-year head coach
Heather Jacobs, who arrived on Grymes Hill in April after building championship programs at Division III Franklin Pierce College, and most recently, Division II Adelphi College. The Seahawks leading scorer is 5-8 junior guard
Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) who averages 11.9 points. On the boards, a pair of guards in 5-8 sophomore
Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) and 5-10 freshman
Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy), are corralling 5.9 and 5.6 caroms per game, respectively. Freshman
Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian), the reigning NEC Rookie of the Week following a career-high 16-point outing at Princeton, averages 8.2 points per game while freshman
Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney) and McClure check in at 7.5 and 7.3 ppg., respectively.
About the Blue Devils:Central Connecticut, led by tenth-year head coach Beryl Piper, opens NEC play with an identical record to Wagner at 1-10. Piper, a 1987 CCSU graduate, is the winningest women's basketball coach in the Blue Devils' Division I era with 125 career victories. She has also led CCSU to four Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinals (2009, 2010, 2011, 2015) and a pair of WNIT post-season appearances (2009, 2015) in her tenure. Over her nine seasons, Piper has a record of 125-156. The 2016-17 Blue Devils are by 5-4 senior guard Aleah Epps, who averages 12.0 points per game. Freshman forward Cebria Outlow and 5-6 sophomore guard Kiana Patterson are tallying 9.2 and 9.0 ppg., respectively. Central Connecticut is coming off of a tight 56-52 loss at New Hampshire (UNH) back on December 21. The Wildcats are the lone common opponent that the Blue Devils and Seahawks have met as Wagner dropped a 73-40 decision at UNH back on November 26. In their final non-conference game of the season, the Blue Devils placed three players in double figures, including a double-double from senior forward Giocelis Reynoso, with 13 rebounds and 10 points. Patterson had 14 points, while classmate Andi Lydon pulled down 13 points and nine rebounds for CCSU. The Blue Devils shot 36.5% of their overall attempts while UNH connected on 40.9% from the floor as Central heads into NEC play at 1-10 while the Wildcats end their non-conference schedule at 8-3.
Wagner Last Time Out:
Bella Alarie scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures as the Princeton University women's basketball team posted a 107-44 win over Wagner on December 21. Russell scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Seahawks while Phills added a career-high 16 points along with a team-high six rebounds and two steals. For the athletic 5-8 Russell, this marked the seventh time this season that she has hit for double figures in the nine games she's played. In the process, the South Jersey native upped her team-best scoring average to 11.9 points per game. For Phills, her previous career high scoring game came at home vs. Towson back on November 17, when the versatile 5-9 frosh recorded her first career double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 11 rebounds that night.
Phills NEC Rookie of the Week:
Wagner freshman
Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian) has been named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Women's Basketball Rookie of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.
The 5-9 Phills tallied a career-high 16 points, along with seven rebounds and an assist, while shooting 75 percent from the free throw line in the Seahawks' one game this past week at Ivy League power Princeton on December 21. For the season, she is averaging 8.2 points per game, the second-most amongst Wagner starters this season.
Phills has significantly upped her scoring output during the back end of the Green & White's non-conference schedule. The North Carolina native, who has reached double-digit point totals in four of her last five games, played all 40 minutes vs. Princeton. Now averaging 4.8 rebounds per contest, Phills secured seven caroms during the setback to the Tigers.
Wagner vs. CCSU:
Tonight's matchup marks the 38
th all-time meeting between the Seahawks and Blue Devils with CCSU holding a 22-15 edge in the all-time series. The teams split their two meetings last season with each team posting a win on the other's home floor. On January 16, 2016, Central posted a 62-52 victory on Grymes Hill before Wagner returned the favor with a 64-63 road win on February 20, 2016.
NEC Preseason Poll
In the league's 2016-17 preseason poll, Sacred Heart received six first-place votes in being named the preseason favorite, followed by Robert Morris, who received three first-place votes. Saint Francis U, with one first-place vote, was picked third, followed by Bryant, LIU Brooklyn, St. Francis Brooklyn, Central Connecticut, Mount St. Mary's, Fairleigh Dickinson and Wagner. Sacred Heart redshirt senior forward Hannah Kimmel was selected as the 2016 NEC Preseason Player of the Year.
1. Sacred Heart (6)
2. Robert Morris (3)
3. Saint Francis U (1)
4. Bryant
5. LIU Brooklyn
6. St. Francis Brooklyn
7. Central Connecticut
8. Mount St. Mary's
9. Fairleigh Dickinson
10. Wagner
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Wagner Athletics
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Head Coach
Heather Jacobs:
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