Hackensack, NJ – The Wagner women's basketball team, which saw its two-game winning streak come to an end at Sacred Heart on Saturday, looks to return to the win column on Monday, February 12 when the Seahawks make the short trek to Northeast Conference (NEC) rival Fairleigh Dickinson in an 8:00 p.m. tip that can be seen live on ESPN 3. 

Improvement Over Last Season
The five wins this season exceeds Wagner's total from head coach Heather Jacobs' first season a year ago while the three NEC wins (with seven regular season remaining) equal last season's conference in total.
 
All-Time Series: Wagner vs. FDU
Monday's contest marks the 74th all-time meeting between the schools with Fairleigh Dickinson holding a 39-34 edge in the all-time series, which includes a 74-64 win back on January 6 at the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks are 18-17 vs. the Knights all time at home and 15-19 in road games. The teams are 1-1 all time in neutral site games.
 
First Meeting
FDU 74, Wagner 64
January 6, 2018
Spiro Sports Center/Staten Island, NY
Redshirt freshman guard Morgan Lenahan scored a career-high 23 points and helped key a late rally, but Fairleigh Dickinson was able to hang on for 74-64 Northeast Conference (NEC) victory over Wagner this afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center. Lenahan, a 5-11 guard, shot a torrid 9-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-4 accuracy from three-point range in leading three players in double figures. Fifth-year senior forward Sierra Clark, who was limited to three minutes of first-half action due to two early fouls, hit her stride in the second half, when the 5-11 graduate student tossed in 14 of her 16 points. Redshirt freshman guard Taylah Simmons was the third Seahawk to hit for double-digits, finishing with 11 points, nine of which came in the opening half. Senior forward Samantha Sullivan matched her career high with six points, in addition to pulling down three rebounds. Both teams were hot from the field in the first half with the Knights connecting on 61 percent while Wagner hit 52 percent of its first-half field goal attempts. Lenahan had 13 first-half points while Simmons added nine as the Seahawks managed to stay within a 36-34 margin at the break despite Clark's limited minutes. FDU opened the second half with an 11-5 surge en route to outscoring Wagner 20-10 in the third quarter in building a 56-44 lead heading into the final stanza. Wagner opened the final frame on a 14-6 run with eight coming from Lenahan, including consecutive layups that trimmed the Knights' lead to four, at 62-58, with 4:41 remaining in the game. Following an FDU timeout, the Knights went on a 5-1 burst to make it a nine-point game, at 67-59, and went on to earn the 74-64 win. Madelynn Comly led the Knights with 20 points while Amina Markovic and Penial M'Bikata added 19 and 11 points, respectively. The Knights outshot Wagner 52 percent to 42 percent, while holding a 20-16 edge in points off turnovers and a 16-9 lead in bench points. Wagner, meanwhile, held a 36-30 edge in points in the paint, while also holding the advantage in second-chance points (18-7) and fast break points (6-0). The game featured three ties and 10 lead changes.
 
Former D-II All-American Clark Getting It Done in D-I
Fifth-year senior forward Sierra Clark, who was recruited to and played for Wagner head coach Heather Jacobs at Adelphi University where she went on to earn 2016-17 Division II All-American honors, has hit for 20 or more points 11 times this season, has two 30-point plus games, and 20 double-digit scoring efforts. The Maryland native averages 18.4 points (No. 2 in NEC) and an NEC-leading 9.8 rebounds overall.  In Wagner's 21 NEC games, the she averages 20.1. points and 11.3 rebounds per outing. Overall, Clark, has an NEC-best 13 double-doubles to her credit in 23 games, which rank No. 12 nationally according to NCAA.com. In addition, the graduate student averages an NEC-best 2.3 blocked shots per game (54 total), which also ranks No. 26 in the nation.
 
Taylor Simmons Named NEC Co-Rookie of the Week
After helping to spark Wagner to back-to-back wins over St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU Brooklyn, Wagner redshirt freshman forward Taylah Simmons was named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Co-Rookie of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday. A 6-0 forward from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Simmons averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in the two Seahawk victories. On February 3, Simmons tosses in 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, to go with five rebounds, three steals and two assists in helping the Green & White earn a 50-47 win over St. Francis Brooklyn at the Spiro Sports Center. Two nights later, on Monday, February 5, Simmons scored 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed another five rebounds, along with three assists, as the Seahawks made two in a row with a 52-44 home victory over LIU Brooklyn. In the two games combined, Simmons shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the floor. Simmons has scored in double figures in four consecutive games, averaging 14.8 points per game during this stretch, and highlighted by a career-high 19-point outing vs. Saint Francis U (1/22). In Wagner's 11 NEC games, Simmons has hit for double figures in eight, which has helped her post a 12.7 ppg. average in league play, which is second on the team. Simmons is also second on the squad in overall scoring average at 9.7 ppg.
 
Last Time Out
Fairfield, CT – The Wagner women's basketball team climbed out of a 28-point deficit with a furious fourth-quarter rally but it was too little, too late, as Sacred Heart was able to regroup en route to a 61-49 win on Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center, snapping the Seahawks' two-game winning streak in the process. With the loss, the Green & White fall to 5-18 on the season, 3-9 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play while the Pioneers improve to 8-15 overall, 4-8 in league play. Fifth-year senior forward Sierra Clark posted team highs with 17 points and nine rebounds while redshirt freshman guard Morgan Lenahan added 12 points, along with three steals and two assists. For Sacred Heart, Candice Leatherwood led the way with 19 points and Tykera Carter added 10. The Pioneers led 16-4 after one quarter, extended their lead to 33-14 at halftime, eventually building a 28-popint late third-quarter lead. Trailing SHU 50-28 entering the fourth quarter, Wagner put together its best 10-minute stretch of the game, outscoring the Pioneers 21-11 in the final quarter, holding the Pioneers without a single made field goal, before running out of time. Wagner shot 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) from the floor in the final quarter, while holding SHU to 0-of-7 shooting while forcing eight turnovers. All 11 of Sacred Heart's fourth-quarter points came from the free throw line with the Pioneers going 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. Lenahan and Russell paced the Seahawks in the final frame with five points each while redshirt freshman forward Taylah Simmons, the reigning NEC Co-Rookie of the Week, along with junior guard Nakyila Carter hit for four points each in the fourth.
 
Next Up
Following Monday night's tussle with FDU, the Seahawks return to the friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center for its final three home games of the season, beginning on Saturday, February 17. vs. Central Connecticut, before hosting Bryant (February 19) and Mount St. Mary's (February 24).

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