Staten Island, NY – Wagner freshman forward Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian), the two-time and reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week, tossed in 17 points and grabbed five rebounds but Fairleigh Dickinson was able to stave off a late Seahawk rally in posting a 59-53 win this afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
Natalie Zamora paced FDU with 12 points while Brianna Thomas and Amina Markovic added 11 apiece as the Knights improve to 3-11 on the season, 1-2 in NEC play. The Seahawks are now 1-13 overall, 0-3 in conference.
 
After FDU jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Seahawks answered with a 10-3 run in building an early 10-6 lead. FDU then responded with a 13-2 run, bridging the first and second quarters, in taking a 19-12 lead with 7:58 left in the opening half. The tenacious Seahawks responded with a 12-3 output of their own, holding FDU to just 1-of-4 shooting for a 4:20 stretch, in taking a 24-22 lead with 3:38 remaining before halftime. The Knights then closed out the stanza scoring 9 of the final 13 points to take a 31-28 lead into the intermission.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson opened the second half on a 14-2 run in building a 14-point lead at 45-30 with 4:13 left in the third quarter. With 5:49 remaining in the game, the Knights held a 53-40 lead before Wagner went on to an 8-0 spurt to close to with 1:25 to play following a pair of free throws by junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) to make it a 53-48 game. But this is as close as the Seahawks would get as the Knights held on for the win.
 
Russell, along with freshman guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney), finished with eight points apiece while freshman guard Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) and sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) added seven points each.
 
Wagner made 6-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter to finish at 36.2 percent for the game, while FDU shot 35.8 percent. The Seahawks also won the rebounding battle, 39-34 and led inn points in the paint by a 28-20 margin. FDU led in points off turnovers (18-13) and bench points (18-14) while the teams were tied at 12-12 in fast break points. There were six ties and four lead changes in the game.
 
Phills entered the game ranked fourth among NEC freshman at 9.4 points per game while Crouch was sixth at 7.8 per game.
 
On Monday, January 9, Wagner will entertain Sacred Heart in a 7:00 p.m. start before rounding out the three-game home stretch against Robert Morris in a 1:00 p.m. affair on Saturday, January 14.

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