Smithfield, RI – Led by 20 points from freshman forward Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian), along with 15 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus), the Wagner women's basketball team gave Bryant a scare before falling 70-61 in a back and forth game that featured 14 ties and 22 lead-changes.
 
Phills, who has won three consecutive Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week awards, matched her career high (at Central Connecticut, 12/29)  and has now scored in double figures in seven straight games and 10 of her last 11 overall. For McClure, the 15-point, 10-rebound effort marked her third double-double of the season and second in the last three games.The 5-8 McClure was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line, in addition to recording four assists and a steal. Her 15-point outing tied for the most points McClure has ever scored in an NEC game (at St. Fracnis Brooklyn, (2/1/16) and is one shy of the career-high 16 points she tallied vs. Albany back on December 10.
 
In holding off Wagner, the Bulldogs improve to 9-8 on the season and 4-2 in the NEC while the Seahawks, who delivered their third straight ultra-competitive outing, fall to 1-16 overall, 0-6 in league play.
 
Phills was aggressive from the outset, tossing in six points to stake Wagner to a 15-14 lead after one quarter. The second quarter was nip-and-tuck and featured five ties. A pair of McClure free throws with 1:52 to go in the half gave Wagner a 29-25 lead before Bryant rallied with a 9-2 burst in taking a scant 34-31 count at the intermission. McClure led the way for the Green & White in the opening 20 minutes, totaling 13 points and eight boards, buoyed by a 6-of-6 effort from the free throw line.
 
The third quarter featured much of the same back and forth play, with the Seahawks taking their first lead of the second half, at 43-41,  on a three-point jumper by freshman guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney). Following the game's 13^th tie, at 45-45, which came on a Kierra Palmer layup at 4:14, and a free throw by Sydney Holloway at the 3:40 mark, Wagner inched ahead for the what would be the final time in the game on a lefty scoop layup by Phills, to make it a 47-46 game 3:16 to go in the third quarter.
 
Again Bryant closed with a spurt, scoring seven unanswered points inn building a 53-46 lead after three quarters. Phills opened the final quarter with a foul line jumper with 7:50 left off a feed from McClure to cut it to four, 53-49, and senior forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY / Christ the King) added a layup at 6:28 off a Phills assist to again make it a four-point game at 55-51. This is as close as the Seahawks would get, however, as the Bulldogs countered with a 5-0 run to make it a 60-51 game and were able to hold on from there.

Crouch was Wagner's third-leading scorer in the game, following her career-high 17-point outburst at Sacred Heart on Saturday, with eight points today. Freshman guard Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) continued to give the Seahawks good minutes, with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting, to go with three assists and a steal in a spirited 39-minute stint. Senior forward Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ / Middletown South) finished with five points, including a big second-half three-pointer, while junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) and Butigian chipped in with four and two points, respectively.
 
Bryant was led by forward Alex Klein who matched Phills' game-high 20 points, with much of her work coming from the line, as she was 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. Naomi Ashley was an effective 6-of-7 from the floor, finishing with 17 points along with eight rebounds, while Palmer and Morgan Olander hit for 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
For the game, the Bulldogs shot 50 percent (23-of-46) and were 22-of-29 from the foul line while Wagner shot 39 percent (23-of-59), with those 23 made field goals being a season high. The Seahawks were credited with 14 assists on those 23 makes and did a good job taking care of the ball, committing just 15 turnovers while Bryant recorded 13 assists and also turned the ball over 15 times.
 
Led by McClure's eight rebounds, and seven and five coming from Baggs and Dluihi, respectively, Wagner held a 33-31 edge in the glass against the much taller Bulldogs. The feisty Seahawks trailed by a narrow 30-28 margin in points in the paint and led in both points off turnovers (18-14) and second-chance points (18-8). Bryant, meanwhile, held slight edges in fast-break points (6-2) and in bench scoring (10-9).
 
The Green & White are next in action on Saturday, January 21 when they travel to meet the Sacred Heart University Pioneers. Tip-off between Wagner and Sacred Heart is set for 1:00 p.m. Then, on Monday January 23, Wagner makes the short trek to LIU Brooklyn for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with the Blackbirds. As with all NEC games, both of these contests ca be seen live via webstream, free of charge, on necfrontrow.com.
 
NOTES: In Wagner's six NEC games, the Seahawks have three players averaging double figures. Phills leads the way with an NEC scoring average of 14.8, tops among all freshmen in the league, on 46.8 percent shooting, to go with her team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game. Her 20 points tonight equals her career high that she scored at Central Connecticut (12/29). Crouch is hitting for 11.0 ppg. in NEC play, thanks in large part to her blistering 44 percent three-point shooting (19-of-45) while McClure checks in at 10.0 ppg. in conference games, followed closely by Russell, who averages 9.0 ppg. in league and a team-best 10.8 ppg. overall.
 
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