Smithfield, RI - The Wagner women's basketball team makes the long trip to Bryant University to meet the Bulldogs on Monday in a 2:00 p.m. Martin Luther King Day matinee vs. the Bulldogs at the Chace Center.
 
Wagner All-Time vs. Bryant
This contest marks the 14th meeting between the Seahawks and the Bulldogs and Bryant holds a 12-1 lead in the all-time series.
 
About the Seahawks
Wagner (1-15, 0-5 NEC) 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 Daniel Webster College, and most recently, Division II Adelphi College. The Seahawks have been led of late by freshman forward Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte), who has won three consecutive NEC Rookie of the Week awards. The 5-9 Phills is second on the team in both scoring (9.9) and rebounding (5.6). In NEC play, Phills averages a team-best 13.8 ppg. and is tip in rebounding at 7.4 rpg. The North Carolinian has hit for double figures in six straight games overall and 10 of her last 11. Wagner is led in scoring by 5-8 junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) who averages 11.3 points per game and in rebounding by 5-8 sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus), who averages 6.3 caroms per game.  Freshman 5-6 guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney), whose halftime buzzer-beating three-pointer vs. Sacred Heart (1/9) was named the NEC Play of the Week, checks in at 8.8 ppg. overall and 11.3 ppg. in NEC play. On Saturday vs. defending NEC champion Robert Morris, Crouch scored a career-high 17-point outing that came on the heels of a 14-point effort vs. Sacred Heart, which matched her previous career high. In her last two games, vs. RMU and SHU, the 5-6 guard is averaging 15.5 points on 64.7 percent shooting overall (11-of-17) and 64.3 percent accuracy from three-point range (9-of-14). McClure checks in at 7.8 ppg., while 5-10 freshman guard Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) average 4.3 ppg., and 5.3 rpg. Up front, 6 -1 senior forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY / Christ the King) averages 3.0 ppg. and 4.9 rpg., which is third-best on the team, while senior forward Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ / Middletown South) is fourth on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg.).
 
About the Bulldogs
Bryant is guided by 26th-year head coach Mary Burke, who is a four-time Rhode Island Coach of the Year. The Bulldogs enter Monday's play with an overall record of 8-7 and a 3-1 mark in NEC play. Coming off a 65-53 home loss to Sacred Heart, the Bulldogs are led by 6-1 senior forward Alex Klein who scores 16.2 ppg. while pulling down 8.3 rpg., both team highs. Junior guard Ivory Bailey provides punch off the bench, checking in at 12.1 ppg. and 5.7 rpg. Freshman forward Sydney Holloway and sophomore guard Kierra Palmer average 9.1 ppg. and 8.2 ppg., respectively. The play-making Palmer averages an NEC-best 4.3 assists per game. Senior 6-2 center Morgan Olander adds 7.7 ppg. and averages a team-high 6.9 rpg. In Saturday's loss to SHU, the Bulldogs didn't hit a field goal for five minutes in the fourth quarter, going just 6-for-27 in the second half. Despite shooting 40.6 percent in the first half, Bryant finished 21.9 percent from the floor in the second, while the Pioneers connected on 54.2 percent of their second-half attempts. For just the second time this season, the Bulldogs lost the battle on the boards, 39-36, despite 16 offensive rebounds. This season, Bryant is 0-2 when grabbing less boards than its opponents. The Bulldogs average the NEC's highest rebounding margin at +6.6 per game, placing them 40th nationally. In their best performance, Bryant out-rebounded Brown by 23, marking their highest rebounding differential since the 2014 season. The Bulldogs have lost two battles on the boards to Maine and Sacred Heart by single digits.
 
Wagner Last Time Out
Wagner placed four players in double figures, led by a career-high 17 points from freshman guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney), and trailed by just six points at halftime, before defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Robert Morris pulled away late for an 82-63 win on Saturday at the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks shot a season-best 50 percent from the floor (21-of-42), highlighted by a scalding 66.7 percent (8-of-12) in the second quarter, as the Seahawks trimmed a 14-point deficit to six at the intermission. For the game, the Green & White also knocked down a season-high 63.6 percent of their three-point attempts, finishing a hot 7-of-11 from downtown. Crouch's 17-point game, which bettered her previous career high of 14, came on 6-of-7 shooting, included a 5-of-6 effort from three-point range. Junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) tossed in 15 points while sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) and three-time NEC Rookie of the Week Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian), added 12 and 10 points, respectively for the Seahawks. RMU was led by Mikalah Mulrain's 18-point outing, which came on 8-of-8 shooting from the field. Current NEC Player of the Week Anna Niki Stamolamprou who was coming off a 39-point explosion vs. LIU Brooklyn, added 16 points as did Megan Smith, while Janee Brown chipped in with 10. The Colonials jumped out to an 11-0 lead in this one and led by a 20-6 count after one quarter before Wagner responded with a 9-2 run to open the second quarter in making it a 22-15 game with 8:22 to go before halftime. The Seahawk run began with a McClure three-pointer, followed by consecutive treys by Crouch, who finished the half with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting and 4-of-4 accuracy from beyond the arc. Robert Morris opened the second half on a 15-7 run in opening a 50-36 edge en route to the 19-point win. RMU shot 58.2 percent from the floor for the game, including 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) marksmanship from three-point range. The Colonials out-rebounded Wagner, 28-21, held a 42-22 edge in points in the paint and held an 18-8 advantage in points off turnovers, while the scrappy Seahawks led by a 10-8 margin in second-chance points.