Pictured Above: Freshman Emilija Krista Grava and redshirt sophomore Taylah Simmons (Credit: Dave Saffran)
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Staten Island, NY – Despite two Wagner players hitting for double figures, the Seahawks dropped a 66-43 decision in its home opener to the Lafayette College Leopards on Saturday afternoon from the Spiro Sports Center.
With the loss, Wagner falls to 1-3 on the season while the Leopards remain perfect, moving to 3-0 on the young season.
Freshman forward
Emilija Krista Grava led the way for the Green & White, scoring a team-best 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting in 22 minutes due to early foul trouble. Redshirt sophomore
Taylah Simmons chipped in ten points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.
For Krista Grava, it marks her fourth straight game scoring in double-digits, following a pair of 15 point performances in the first two games (at Seton Hall and Fordham) and most recently, a season-high 18 points at Longwood.
Lafayette was led by Natalie Kucowski, who netted a game-best 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor while also pulling down a game-high 17 rebounds. Kucowski also added five blocks, three assists, and a steal in her 35 minutes of action. Makaila Wilson contributed ten points and five rebounds in 28 minutes of play.
Both teams traded buckets over the first three minutes of the contest before Wagner took a 6-4 lead after sophomore
Alayshia Dailey, who finished with nine points, made a pair of free throws. Kucowski tied the contest on a reverse layup.
The Leopards scored five of the next seven points in upping its lead to 11-8 before the Seahawks closed out the first quarter with six of the frame's final nine points in tying the game at 14-14.
Khaleah Edwards drained a three-pointer from the top-of-the-key with 29 seconds left in the period to even the contest.
Lafayette started the second quarter with six straight points, which gave them a six-point lead, 20-14 after Nicole Johnson hit a deep three-pointer. Wagner responded with a pair of buckets, from Dailey and Simmons, in closing the gap to 20-18 before former Seahawk
Sydney Sabino hit a trifecta which gave Lafayette a 23-18 advantage.
Following a missed jumper from Sabino, the Seahawks found themselves with a single possession at 23-21, thanks to a high-arching three-pointer from redshirt junior guard,
Janelle Mullen. The visitors closed out quarter scoring eight of the final 12 points in clinging to a 31-25 halftime lead.
When play resumed for the third quarter, Wagner wasted little time in scoring, as Dailey was able to get the pass from Simmons and soar towards the hoop, cutting the deficit to four, 31-27.
The Leopards outscored Wagner 14-to-10 from that point in holding a 45-35 lead entering the fourth and final quarter. Simmons led the way for Wagner with six points in the frame while Kucowski tallied nine for Lafayette.
In the fourth, Lafayette used a 13-2 run over a six minute span that increased the visitors lead to 58-37 with 4:12 remaining in the contest. The Leopards hit on 5-of-6 from the field while limiting the home team to just one made field goal in seven attempts, which included a 0-for-3 stretch from beyond-the-arc. Lafayette closed the game out, hitting for eight of the game's final 14 points in spoiling the Seahawks' home opener.
For the game, Wagner was held to 34.0 percent shooting from the field and under 25.0 percent from three-point range. Lafayette, who converted at a 47.3 percent clip, held a 42-23 edge on the glass while scoring 40 of its 66 points inside the paint.
The Seahawks will spend its Thanksgiving holiday on the road, as Wagner will travel up to Burlington, VT for the TD Bank Classic, hosted by the University of Vermont on November 23 and 24. The Green & White will take on the host Catamounts on Nov. 23 in a 4:00 p.m. tip and will face either Siena or Drexel on Nov. 24.
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Wagner Athletics
Women's Basketball:
Head Coach
Heather Jacobs:
