Pictured Above: Freshman guard Corinn Baggs

Staten Island, NY – The Wagner women's basketball team, coming off a hard-fought 58-55 down-to-the-wire loss to Bryant, plays host to LIU Brooklyn in the season finale on Monday, February 27 in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Spiro Sports Center.

All-Time Series
This is the 82^nd all-time meeting between the schools and LIU Brooklyn holds a 46-35 lead in the all-time series, including a 69-64 win over the Seahawks in Brooklyn on January 23.
 
First Meeting: LIU Brooklyn 69, Wagner 64, Jan. 23, 2017, Steinberg Wellness Center
Freshman forward Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian) poured in a career-high 24 points and classmate Corinn Baggs (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) added 13 but LIU Brooklyn was able to hang on for a 69-64 win. After battling Sacred Heart to the wire in a tough overtime loss two days earlier, the Seahawks fell behind 37-26 at the half at LIU. After junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) converted an old-fashioned three-point play, sinking an acrobatic jumper in traffic to make it a 27-25 game at the 2:24 mark, the Blackbirds closed the half on a 10-1 run in building their 11-point halftime bulge. Wagner, however, opened the second half on an 8-0 run and went on take the lead by outscoring the Blackbirds 17-4 in the third quarter. The Seahawks entered the fourth quarter on top, 43-41, and took their last lead at 52-51 on a Phills jumper with 4:42 remaining in the game. But the Green & White went cold from the free throw line down the stretch. After taking that 52-51 lead, Wagner was outscored 18-12 as the Seahawks went just 1-of-6 from the charity stripe in the game's final 2:11. Phills notched her 24 points on an 11-of-16 shooting night from the field. Baggs' 13-point effort, meanwhile,  was one shy of the career-high 14 she tallied at Sacred Heart on Saturday as the local product finished the week with a 13.5 ppg. average. Baggs also came up with a career-high six steals to go with three rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes of action. Senior forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY / Christ the King) also made her presence felt in a big way, tossing in a season-high nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, an effort which came on the heels of a career-high 12-rebound performance at Sacred Heart. Russell contributed eight points on the evening, freshman guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney) added five, while sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) and senior forward Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ / Middletown South) also found the scoring column, chipping in with three and two points, respectively. Guard Dionne Coe paced the Blackbirds with 19 points, 6-2 freshman center Aja Boyd was tough to handle inside, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds, both team highs, while guard Shanovia Dove added 17. The 64 points scored by the Seahawks tonight were a season high as were their 17 assists, 12 steals and 50 percent shooting accuracy (26-of-52). From the free throw line, however, the Green & White went just 8-of-18, a 44.4 percent effort, which was their second-lowest percentage of the season. LIU shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) for the game and held a 34-28 edge in rebounds, in addition to holding the advantage in points off turnovers (20), fast-break points (4-2) and bench scoring 25-10. Wagner led 32-22 in points in the paint and by a 10-4 count in second-chance points.

Kerstie Phills Named NEC Rookie of the Week For Eighth Time
 Freshman Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, N / Charlotte Christian) has been named Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week for the eighth time, the league office announced. The first-year Seahawk averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the field during Wagner's split weekend. Making the short trip to St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, Phills poured in a game-high 18 points to go along with six boards and three steals. Phills fought through foul trouble to score 10 points in 22 minutes during last Monday night's setback to Mount St. Mary's. She grabbed eight boards and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe as Wagner built a large lead before falling. Phills, who leads all NEC rookies in both all games (12.8 ppg.) as well as conference games (15.8 ppg), eclipsed the Wagner record for most NEC Rookie of the Week honors last week when her seventh rookie nod allowed her to pass the previous mark of six shared by Meredith Kearns (1998-1999) and Jasmine Nwajei (2013-2014).

Last Time Out
The Wagner women's basketball team stormed back from a 16-point mid-third quarter deficit, but Bryant was able to hang on in the end for a 58-55 win on Saturday afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks were led by 17 points from freshman forward Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, NC / Charlotte Christian), while junior guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) added 10 points and freshman guard Kellie Crouch (North Brunswick, NJ / St. John Vianney) had nine, all coming during a late three-point shooting barrage. Phills, the league's leading freshman scorer who has been named Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week a program-record eight times, has now reached double figures in 18 straight games, including all 17 NEC contests, and 21 of her last 22 overall. The Bulldogs ran out to a 36-28 halftime lead and opened the second half on an 8-0 run in building their biggest lead of the game at 44-28 an Alex Klein jumper with 6:26 left in the third quarter. Sophomore guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) then converted an old-fashioned three-point play to kick start a 14-3 run to the close the quarter which made it a five-point game at 47-42. Bryant opened the final quarter on a 9-2 blitz in moving ahead by 12 at 56-44 before Crouch knocked down the first of her three jumpers from beyond the arc which made it a 56-47 game with 5:34 left. Crouch hit another three-pointer at the 2:58 mark to make it a 58-52 game, before sinking her third from deep, with 2:27 to go, which made it 58-55. While neither team would score the rest of the way, the Seahawks did have a chance to tie it when freshman guard Corinn Baggs (Staten Island Academy / Staten Island, NY) stripped Morgan Olander of the ball with 14 seconds remaining. After Seahawk head coach Heather Jacobs called her team's final timeout, Wagner worked the ball into the hands of McClure but the sophomore's desperation three-pointer with five seconds left was blocked by Olander as the Bulldogs held on for the win. For Bryant, Alex Klein led all scorers with 19 points while Olander finished with 14. With the victory, Bryant improved to 15-13 on the season 10-7 in NEC play. With the loss, the Seahawks were eliminated from the NEC Tournament in falling to 4-24 overall, 3-14 in league. Prior to the game, a Senior Day ceremony was held in honor of senior forwards Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY / Christ the King) and Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ / Middletown South) who suffered a career-ending injury in the Seahawks' 87-71 win at then first-place Saint Francis U on February 13.

Kellie Crouch Enters Wagner All-Time Single-Season 3-Point FG Made List
1.            Joy Gallagher, 2003-2004                              99
2.            Chris Anderson, 1991-1992                           82
3.            Jordyn Peck, 2013-2014                                71
4.            Toni Roker, 1999-2000                                   68
                Susan Moffat, 1997-1998                              68
                Susan Moffat, 1996-1997                              68
7.            Marie L. Archambault, 2010-2011                   67
8.            Jasmine Nwajei, 2015-2016                            66
                Marie L. Archambault, 2012-13                      66
10.          Kellie Crouch (2016-17)                                  65

 
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