Brooklyn Heights, NY – Seven-time Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian) hit for a game-high 18 points but St. Francis Brooklyn used a big second quarter run in building a 16-point halftime lead en route to a 63-50 win in women's basketball action today at the Pope Center.
 
For Phills, the 5-9 freshman has now scored in double digits in 16 straight games, including all 15 NEC contests, and 19 of her last 20 overall. 
 
Wagner was in front 17-14 in this one with 8:43 left in the opening half when St. Francis Brooklyn went on a 21-2 run to close the half as the Terriers took a 35-19 lead at the break.  Wagner outscored St. Francis 16-11 in the third quarter to make it a 46-35 score but the Seahawks would get only as close as 10 points on two occasions the rest of the way, the last time coming with 1:17 remaining when a three-pointer by freshman guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney) made it a 57-47 game.
 
Junior forward Alex Delaney paced St. Francis with 17 points, highlighted by a 4-of-7 performance from three-point range, while senior forward Olivia Levy added 16 points as the Terriers snapped a six-game losing streak. The win evens the season series at one apiece as the Seahawks won the first meeting between these teams, notching their first NEC win of the year with a 58-45 decision of St. Francis back on January 30 at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy), who was coming off a career-high 20-point outing in last Monday's stirring 84-71 victory at Saint Francis U, joined her freshman classmate Phills in double-digits, finishing with 10 points. For the 5-10 guard and two-time Staten Island Player of the Year, today's 10-point effort was her eighth double-digit game of the season and fourth in her last five.
 
Crouch, senior forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY / Christ the King), and sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) all wound up with six points for the Seahawks.  
 
Crouch's six points today came on a pair of late three-point jumpers which gives her 58 on the season, one shy of entering the Wagner all-time single-season list. Junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland), meanwhile, finished with four points for the Seahawks who shot 36.5 percent front the field and were outrebounded by a margin of 37-31.
 
With the loss, the Green & White fall to 4-22 on the season, 3-12 in the NEC while the Terriers improved to 7-19 overall and, more importantly, are now 5-10 in the league. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for next month's NEC Tournament.
 
Time is now of the essence for the Seahawks with just three games remaining in the regular season. The good news for Wagner is that all three are at home, beginning with Monday night's 7:00 p.m. contest with Mount St. Mary's, followed by home matchups next week vs. Bryant and LIU Brooklyn. The Green & White entered today tied in ninth place with LIU Brooklyn, who hosts Sacred Heart this afternoon.

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