Brooklyn Heights. NY – The Wagner women's basketball team, coming off a rousing 87-71 victory at then first-place Saint Francis U, looks to make it two straight at St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, February 18 at 1:00 p.m.
Battle For NEC Tournament
The Wagner-St. Francis Brooklyn matchup is a key one as the teams vie for a top-eight finish in the NEC league standings and an appearance in next month's conference tournament. The Terriers enter the contest in eighth place with a 4-10 NEC record (6-19 overall), while the Seahawks are right on their heels at 3-11 in the conference (4-21 overall).
Seahawks Seeks Season Sweep of Terriers
First Meeting: Jan. 31, 2017: Wagner 58, St. Francis Brooklyn 45
Back on January 31, Wagner earned its first NEC win of the season, and of the
Heather Jacobs coaching era, when the Seahawks ran past St. Francis Brooklyn by a 58-45 count at the Spiro Sports Center. Freshman forward
Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian) scored 19 points to lead four players in double figures as the Wagner women's basketball team earned its first league win of the season, defeating St. Francis Brooklyn 58-45 in wire-to-wire fashion. In addition to her 19-point offensive output, the 5-9 Phills pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. The North Carolinian has now scored in double figures in 11 straight games and 13 of her last 14 overall. Junior guard
Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) and freshman guard
Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney) supplied 11 points apiece while another freshman guard,
Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy), added 10 for the victors. In addition to her 11 points, Russell dished out a career-high five assists in the win. Wagner jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead en route to building an 18-10 lead after the first quarter. The Seahawks then held the Terriers to 2-of-14 shooting (14.3 percent) in the second quarter while outscoring SFBK 14-4, in surging to a 31-14 halftime lead. The Green & White shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) in the opening half while holding the Terriers to 22.2% shooting (6-of-27). The Seahawks' biggest lead of the game, and season, was 19, on two occasions in the third quarter. Wagner's previous largest lead this season was 17 in the 62-60 win over CSI back on November 15. The Green & White's biggest lead coming into tonight's game in NEC play was ten vs. Sacred Heart on January 9. Alex Delaney was the lone Terrier in double figures with 12 points. For the contest, Wagner outshot St. Francis 41.7%-26.0%, and led in points in the paint (18-12) and points off turnovers (13-11) while the Terriers held a slight 35-34 edge in the rebounding department. Wagner was 8-of-16 (50 percent) from three-point range, which is the Seahawks' second-highest percentage of the season. Defensively, the 45 points allowed, 13 made field goals and 26 percent shooting for SFBK were opponent season lows.
All-Time SeriesToday's game marks the 78th all-time meeting between the schools and the Seahawks hold a 56-20 lead in the all-time series. Over the last five seasons, the Seahawks are 4-1 vs. the Terriers.
Last Five Meetings
January 31, 2017 - Win 58-45
February 1, 2016 – Win 82-78 (OT)
January 26, 2016 – Win 70-53
February 16, 2015 – Loss 67-55
February 7, 2015 – Win 63-60
Phills Earns Program-Record Seventh Weekly Rookie Award
Somerset, NJ (Feb. 15) – Freshman forward
Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte) made Wagner history on Wednesday, becoming the first Seahawk to ever earn seven weekly rookie awards, as she was named Northeast Conference (NEC) Co-Rookie of the Week. In the Seahawks' road trip, which included an upset of first-place Saint Francis U on Monday night, Phills notched two double-doubles, averaging 16.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 53 percent from the field. The 5-9 Phills shot 7-of-12 from the floor vs. the Red Flash, while matching her career high with five steals and dishing out two assists. Not only did Phills register her fourth double-double of the season, she nearly achieved the feat in the first half alone as she pulled down eight rebounds in the opening stanza to go with her 11 first-half points. Two days earlier, Phills recorded team highs with 13 points and 11 rebounds at Robert Morris in a performance that was highlighted by a perfect 9-of-9 shooting effort from the free throw line. In reaching the 20-point scoring plateau for the fourth time this season at SFU, Phills, whose career high is 24 points at LIU Brooklyn (1/23), has now scored in double digits in 15 straight games, including all 14 NEC contests, and 18 of her last 19 overall. In the process, the NEC's top scoring freshman has hiked her conference scoring average to 16.2 ppg., which ranks fourth in the lague, while averaging 12.9 ppg. overall. Phills is Wagner's leading NEC and overall scorer. In winning her seventh rookie honor of the year, Phills moves past Meredith Kearns (1998-1999) and
Jasmine Nwajei (2013-2014), who were six-time recipients of the award during their respective freshman seasons.
Freshman Corinn Baggs
The 5-10 freshman guard scored a career-high 20 points in the 87-71 win at SFU on Monday. In Wagner's two games last week, she averaged 12.0 ppg. and 4.5 rpg., highlighted by 92.3 percent accuracy from the free throw line as she was 12-of-13, including 10-of-11 effort at SFU. Freshman guards
Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) has scored in double figures in four of her last five games, six of her last eight and seven out of 14 NEC games overall. With her career-high 20-point outing at SFU, which topped her previous best of 18 vs. Central Connecticut (2/6), Baggs is averaging 14.0 ppg. in her last two games. Overall in NEC play, the 5-10 guard is averaging 9.4 ppg. on 48.6% (51-105) shooting in Wagner's 14 NEC games. Prior to league play, in 11 non-conference games, Baggs averaged just 3.5 ppg. on 19.1% (12-68) shooting.
Freshman Kellie CrouchPhills and Baggs were not the only freshmen to step up in the win at SFU. Not be outdone, deep-shooting 5-6 freshman guard Kelli Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney) was the fourth Seahawk to hit for double figures, finishing with 15 points, two shy of her career high. Included in her 15-point outing was a clutch 9-of-10 effort from the free throw line as all of those were taken in the fourth quarter as Wagner worked to maintain its lead. The 5-6 freshman guard averaged 13.0 ppg. in Wagner's last two games, following an 11-point outing at Robert Morris on Saturday with a 15-point game in the win at SFU. The 15 points were highlighted by 9-of-10 free throw shooting (90 percent) performances with all 10 attempts coming in the fourth quarter when the Seahawks were in the midst of maintaining their lead over the Red Flash.
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The 5-8 junior guard tossed in a career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting to help key Wagner's 87-71 win at SFU on Monday night with the nine made field goals being a career high. In Wagner's two games, the South Jersey native averaged 13.5 ppg. and 3.0 rpg.
Plethora of Season Highs
Wagner set season highs at SFU in points scored (87), rebounds (47), free throw attempts (31) and free throws made (42) while registering their second-highest season marks in field goal percentage (.531), field goals made (26) and steals (11).
First Win at SFU in Seven Years
The victory gave the Seahawks their first road win over Saint Francis U since January 4, 2010 when they earned a 76-74 overtime win in Loretto. The win was a near wire-to-wire effort as a three-pointer by SFU's Katie Reese 36 seconds into the game, which followed a game-opening layup by Phills, gave the Red Flash their only lead of the game.
First Time Three Players Hit for 20 Points this Season
Junior guard
Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) tossed in a career-high 22 points, freshman guard
Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) scored a career-high 20 points, while freshman forward
Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian) also hit for 20, to go with a career-high 16 rebounds, as the Wagner women's basketball team earned an impressive 87-71 win at SFU on Monday night. This marked the first time this season that the Seahawks had three players reach the 20-point mark in the same game.
