Staten Island, NY – Coming off Monday night's tough 62-61 loss at Fairleigh Dickinson in a game that Wagner led for more than 35 minutes, the Seahawks return home to friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center to host Central Connecticut State in a 1:00 p.m. tip.
 
The Wagner-CCSU matchup will be the first game of a doubleheader with the Seahawk men set to take on LIU Brooklyn on Senior Day at 4:00 p.m.
 
Improvement Over Last Season
Wagner is 5-19 overall, 3-10 in the NEC. The five wins season exceed the Seahawks' total from head coach Heather Jacobs' first season a year ago (four), while the three NEC wins equal last season's conference in total with five games remaining.
 
All-Time Series: Wagner vs. CCSU
Today's matchup marks the 41st all-time meeting between the Seahawks and Blue Devils with CCSU holding a 25-15 edge in the all-time series.  In their most recent meeting, back on December 31, the Blue Devils came away with 59-56 victory.
 
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 9.8 rebounds overall (No. 2 in NEC).  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.
 
Sierra Clark in the NEC
 
All Games

 
 NEC Games Only

 
 Did You Know?
Redshirt freshman guard Taylah Simmons ranks 6^th in the NEC in field goal percentage (overall) at a clip of .488.
 
First Meeting
Central Connecticut 59, Wagner 56
December 31, 2017
Detrick Gymnasium/New Britain, CT
Wagner dropped a 59-56 decision to Central Connecticut despite a 21-point, 16-rebound, six-block effort from graduate student Sierra Clark in a back-and-forth game throughout which featured 19 lead changes and seven ties. Wagner outshot CCSU 38 percent to 36 percent but the Seahawks were just 1-of-12 (8 percent) from three-point range while Central connected on 9-of-15 from deep, a sizzling 60 percent clip.

The Blue Devils held a slim 38-35 edge in rebounds, while topping the Seahawks 31-22 in bench scoring. Thanks largely to Clark's work in the low post, the Green & White enjoyed a 34-16 advantage in points in the paint. Redshirt freshman guard Morgan Lenahan finished with 12 points, five assists, four rebounds, and three steals in a productive 37-minute stint, while senior guard Tanasia Russell came off the bench to spark Wagner with 10 points, two rebounds and two steals. After falling behind 5-3 early, the Seahawks closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run in taking a 13-7 lead entering quarter number two. CCSU opened the second quarter hot, opening with a 5-0 run en route to outscoring Wagner 17-10 and seizing a 24-23 halftime lead.

The third quarter was hotly-contested as the biggest lead by either team was four points, which Wagner held on three different occasions, including at the end of the period when Clark drained a 10-foot jumper off an assist from senior guard Tanasia Russell with four seconds left to give the Seahawks a 47-43 lead entering the fourth. A pair of Clark free throws with 8:13 remaining gave the Seahawks a 51-48 lead but this would prove to be Wagner's final lead of the game. CCSU's Morgan Johnson knocked down a three-pointer at the 7:05 mark to knot the game at 51-51. A layup by redshirt freshman guard Taylah Simmons off a nice inside feed by Clark forged the game's final tie at 53-53 with 5:52 left. Four straight CCSU points, on a pair of Brianna Jacobs free throws at the 4:31 make followed by a Johnson layup with 4:19 to go, gave the Blue Devils some breathing room at 57-53. Russell's two free throws with 3:43 remaining briefly made it a two-point game at 57-55 before Kiana Patterson knocked down a pair at the 3:31 mark to push the Blue Devils' lead back to four at 59-55.

That's the way the score remained until Russell was fouled at the 49-second mark. After the 5-8 guard made one-of-two from the line to make it a one possession game at 59-56, Simmons pulled down the offensive rebound and fed to guard Alayshia Dailey who missed a layup with 42 ticks left, with Andi Lydon pulling down the carom for CCSU. Following a Central time out, the Blue Devils worked the ball around the perimeter before misfiring on a Patterson jumper with 11 seconds left. Simmons grabbed the rebound and called time out with nine seconds to play. Jacobs then called timeout to design a potential game-tying three-pointer. Wagner executed the play well, getting the ball into Lenahan's hands but the South Jersey native's long-range attempt was off the mark as Central held on for the win. Lydon led Central with 16 points, Jacobs came off the bench with 14, while Patterson added eight. In the first half, Lenahan paced the Seahawks with seven while Clark tallied five points to go with nine rebounds. Wagner outshot CCSU 37 percent to 30 percent in the opening half but the Blue Devils' 22-17 advantage in the rebounding department helped them to the one-point halftime lead. Andi Lydon led Central with seven points in the first half. 
 
Last Time Out
Fairleigh Dickinson 62, Wagner 51
February 12, 2018
Rothman Center
Amina Markovic scored 20 points and Courtney Blankenship added 13, including a three-point jumper with 32 seconds left to play, as Fairleigh Dickinson rallied late for a 62-61 victory over Wagner on Monday night at the Rothman Center.  

Despite having leading scorer Sierra Clark on the bench with two fouls for the entire second quarter, as she was limited to just eight first-quarter minutes, the Green & White took a 29-26 lead at the intermission. Then, at the outset of the second half, with Clark back on the floor, the Seahawks came out blazing, converting four consecutive layups, the first three of the fast-break variety. Clark sank the first layup, the next two were by junior guard Nakylia Carter, and the fourth, which came out of a halfcourt set, came from redshirt freshman Taylah Simmons.

The 8-0 run opened a 37-26 Wagner lead, prompting an FDU timeout at the 8:07 mark of the third quarter. The Seahawks, led by a 42-36 count after three quarters. With Clark leading the way, having scored 11 straight Wagner points at one juncture, the Seahawks were seemingly in control. When freshman guard Khaleah Dixon-Edwards knocked down a three-pointer with 5:55 to play, Wagner held a nine-point, 55-46 lead.

The Knights then responded with a 9-2 run over the next 2:48, capped by a Madelynn Comly three-pointer that drew FDU to within 59-57 with just 2:43 left. After Dixon-Edwards converted a pair of pressure-packed free throws with 1:24 to go, pushing the Seahawk lead back to four at 61-57, FDU quickly answered with a layup by Lauren Francillon nine seconds later to again make it a two-point game at 61-59. On Wagner's next possession, Elise Graham blocked a Carter layup attempt with 46 seconds to go, with Francillon coming away with the rebound for FDU. The Knights then worked the ball around the perimeter, eventually finding an open Blankenship who drilled a three-pointer from right of the circle, to give the Knights a 63-61 lead.

This marked FDU's first lead since the opening minutes of the game when the Knights led 4-3. On the Seahawks' final possession of the game, Carter dribbled the ball up the court until Wagner head coach Heather Jacobs called timeout with five seconds left on the play clock, and 6.1 seconds remained on the game clock. Following the timeout, Lenahan drove it strong through the lane but her layup attempt, in traffic, was blocked by Blackenship, who was fouled as she grabbed the rebound. Although the scoreboard read 0:00, the officials looked at the replay monitor and determined that she was fouled with 0.9 left on the clock. With Wagner over the foul limit, Blankenship missed both free throws, but with left with too little time to get a shot off, FDU managed to escape with the win. Wagner outshot FDU 51 percent to 41.1 percent, and held the advantage in points in the paint (42-30), points off turnovers (21-18) and fast-break points (12-2).
 
Next Time Out
The Seahawks host Bryant on Monday, February 19 in a President's Day matinee at 1:00 p.m.