Women's Basketball | 1/10/19
Staten Island, NY – Following a road split of the Northeast Conference (NEC) opening weekend, the Wagner College women's basketball team embarks on a three-game homestand, beginning on Saturday afternoon when the Seahawks play host to the Sacred Heart University Pioneers.
Both teams earned victories on Monday evening, as Wagner defeated Central Connecticut, 75-63, behind
Taylah Simmons' third double-double of the season (19 points, 11 rebounds). Sacred Heart enters Saturday's contest looking for its third straight win after besting LIU Brooklyn at home, 75-63, in a game that saw three Pioneers reach double-figures, led by Adrianne Hagood's 26 point performance.
Inside The Numbers:
- 1248 - Saturday's contest will mark the 1,248 game in the history of the Wagner women's basketball program as the Seahawks have won 524 games.
- 75 - points recorded in Monday's win at Central Connecticut are the third-most points scored this season by the Seahawks (86, twice, at Longwood [11/14/18] and vs. College of Staten Island [12/21/18]).
- 19 - points scored by redshirt sophomore, Taylah Simmons setting a new career-high and came within a point of becoming the first Seahawk to reach the 20-point plateau this season.
- 9 - Wagner is looking to snap a nine-game losing streak to Sacred Heart, last picking up a 79-70 home win against the Pioneers back on January 13, 2014.
Last Time Out For Wagner:
- Redshirt sophomore Taylah Simmons tied her career-high with 19 points while recording her third double-double of the season as the Wagner College women's basketball team earned its first Northeast Conference (NEC) win of the season, defeating Central Connecticut, 75-63, on Monday evening at Detrick Gymnasium.
- With the victory, the Seahawks improved to 3-10 overall and even its conference record at 1-1 while the Blue Devils fell to 3-9 on the year and 0-2 in league play.
- Simmons netted 14 of her game-best 19 points in the first half and finished with season-high 11 caroms in her 36 minutes of action. The Melbourne, Australia native shot 7-of-15 from the field while dishing out four assists and notched two steals in the victory.
- For Simmons, tonight's performance marked her fifth career double-double and second in a three-game span.
- Additionally, three other Seahawks scored in double digits as sophomore guard Alayshia Dailey recorded a career-high 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting while hitting on 8-of-11 from the free throw in 35 minutes of action. Dailey also grabbed a career-best seven rebounds.
- Junior Jordan Hobson chipped in 12 points on 5-of-7 marksmanship in 12 minutes off the bench.
- Rounding out the scoring for Wagner was sophomore Khaleah Edwards, who scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Joellen How was a key catalyst for the Green & White on the evening, dishing out a game and career-high seven helpers in 23 minutes of play.
- Two Blue Devils reached double figures, led by Kiana Patterson, who poured in a team-best 17 points and grabbed four rebounds in her 35 minutes of action. Ashley Berube contributed 11 points in 26 minutes of action.
Inside The Wagner | Sacred Heart Series:
- Wagner and Sacred Heart are meeting for the 36th time in program history with the Pioneers holding a 26-9 edge in the head-to-head series.
- The Seahawks are looking to snap a nine-game losing streak to Sacred Heart, last picking up a 79-70 win back on January 13, 2014 at the Spiro Sports Center.
- Since 2002, Wagner is just 5-20 against the Pioneers.
- The head-to-head series between the Green & White and the Pioneers began during the 1978-1979 season, in which Wagner dropped a 64-63 road decision to Sacred Heart. From that point, Wagner took the next four meetings.
- Over the last five meetings, Wagner is being outscored by Sacred Heart by 11.4 points per game (68.4-to-57.0).
- Sophomore Taylah Simmons is averaging 10.0 ppg in two matchups against Sacred Heart, after dropping 15 points in her first-ever meeting against SHU, back on January 8, 2018 at the Spiro Sports Center.
.
Seahawk Tidbits:
- As of 1/8/19, Wagner ranks 47th in the entire NCAA in three-point field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 27.5 percent shooting from the outside. Among the ten-NEC schools, Wagner is second in this department, trailing Central Connecticut (26.5).
- Sophomores Taylah Simmons and Khaleah Edwards rank fourth and sixth, respectively, among all second-year NEC players in scoring, with Simmons tallying 10.9 ppg and Edwards at 9.2.
- Fellow classmate Alayshia Dailey, who is pouring in 7.1 points a game, is tied for second among NEC-sophomores in assists, dishing out 2.7 a contest, which is tied with Nina Augustin (Robert Morris) and Karson Swogger (Saint Francis U).
- Freshman forward Emilija Krista Grava ranks second among all NEC-newcomers in minutes played (28.7), second in rebounds (5.8 rpg), fourth in scoring (10.0 ppg), and fifth in field percentage (42.9%).
- Redshirt sophomore Joellen How tied a Wagner season-high with her career-high seven assists against Central Connecticut. The seven helpers match senior guard, Nakylia Carter, who also dished out seven assists against Staten Island (12/21/18).
- Carter saw her six-game streak of three or more steals come to a close at Central Connecticut.
- Wagner is 3-0 this season when leading at halftime, outscoring their opponents by 13.0 points (43.7 to 30.7). The Seahawks are shooting 56.8 percent from the field in these contests while connecting on 55.6 percent from the outside.
- Simmons and junior forward, Jordan Hobson, are averaging 12.0 and 10.0 ppg over their last five games.
- Dailey, who is pouring in 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 2.2 apg over her last five games, is shooting a team-best 65.0 percent from the floor over her last five games
Scouting The Sacred Heart University Pioneers:
- Sacred Heart, who was predicted to finish third in the annual preseason coaches' poll after earning three first-place votes, comes into Saturday's contest against the Seahawks with 6-7 overall and 2-0 in Northeast Conference (NEC) action.
- In the NEC opener on January 5, the Pioneers earned a 66-61 triumph over Central Connecticut and followed up the weekend sweep with a 75-53 win over LIU Brooklyn on January 7.
- The Pioneers are 3-2 over its last five games, averaging 60.4 ppg.
- Sacred Heart, as a whole, is averaging 61.7 ppg, fourth best in the league while allowing 61.8 ppg, the second fewest behind Robert Morris (58.8 ppg). The Pioneers rank third in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 40.7 shooting from the floor and are third behind Wagner in three-point field goal percentage defense at 29.1 percent.
- Additionally, SHU is second in turnover margin (+2.77) and assist/turnover ratio (0.8).
- Individually, a total of four Pioneers rank among the top-20 in scoring, led by Katherine Haines, who is pouring in 14.3 ppg, good for sixth in the circuit. Adrianne Hagood and Erin Storck rank eighth and ninth, respectively, tallying 12.5 and 11.8 ppg. Candice Leatherwood rounds out the scoring for SHU, contributing 10.0 ppg, which is tied with Wagner's Emilija Krista Grava for 17th in the league scoring.
- Haines ranks third in rebounding at 8.7 rpg while Leatherwood is among the top-15 in assists, dishing out 2.4 helpers a contest.
Up Next For Wagner:
- Wagner welcomes Fairleigh Dickinson to the Spiro Sports Center on Monday evening, January 14, for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
