Women's Basketball | 1/18/19
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College women's basketball team concludes its three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon as the Seahawks square off against the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers at the Spiro Sports Center.
Both teams enter Saturday's contest on a high note after picking up wins on Monday evening, with Wagner defeating Fairleigh Dickinson, 71-59, while the Mount earned an 84-53 home victory over Central Connecticut.
These two teams split last season's meetings, with each squad earning wins on its home court.
Inside The Numbers:
- 525 - Monday's victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, a 71-59 decision, marked the 525th all-time win in the history of the Wagner College women's basketball program.
- 230 - In Monday's Northeast Conference (NEC) win over the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights, the Seahawks recorded its 230th victory over the current members of the league.
- 20 - Redshirt sophomore Taylah Simmons' 20-point performance in Monday's victory over the Knights marked the first time this season a Wagner player has eclipsed the 20-point plateau during the 2018-19 campaign.
- 5 - Wagner has scored 30 points or more in five straight contests from inside the paint.
Last Time Out For Wagner:
- The Wagner College women's basketball team had a slow start in Monday's Northeast Conference (NEC) tilt with Fairleigh Dickinson but ultimately earned a 71-59 triumph over the Knights.
- Both teams move to 4-11 overall on the season while the Seahawks evened their conference record to 2-2 while Fairleigh Dickinson falls to 1-3 in league contests. The .500 start for the Green & White is the best four-game start to a conference season since the 2014-15 season, where Wagner was 2-2 after its first-four conference games.
- The Seahawks placed three in double figures and connected on 50.0 percent (27-of-54) of their shots in the contest, outscoring the Knights, 26-10, in the second quarter and 66-48 over the final three quarters.
- Redshirt sophomore Taylah Simmons poured in a career-high 20 points to lead the Seahawk offense on the evening. The Melbourne, Australia native converted on 8-of-15 from the field in her 37 minutes of action. Simmons' 20-point performance was the first time this season that a Seahawk had eclipsed that plateau. The last time a Seahawk scored 20 or more points was Sierra Clark, who poured in 23 at Robert Morris back on March 2, 2018.
- Freshman forward Emilija Krista Grava nearly matched Simmons, as she ended the contest with 19 on 8-of-13 to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Krista Grava also swatted a career-high three shots in 34 minutes of action.
- Sophomore Alayshia Dailey was the third Seahawk in double digits, as she added 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor while dishing out five assists, three steals and a block in 34 minutes.
- FDU's Natalie Zamora was the lone Knight in double figures, as she netted 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, which included a 5-of-9 clip from the outside in 34 minutes of play. Lauren Francillon chipped in eight points and a team-leading eight caroms.
Inside The Wagner | Mount St. Mary's Series:
- Wagner and Mount St. Mary's are squaring off for the 58th time with the Mountaineers leading the head-to-head series, 41-16.
- Last season, these two squads split their regular season meetings, with each winning on its home court.
- Since 2002, Wagner is just 8-18 against the Mountaineers.
- The Seahawks are looking for back-to-back wins against the Mount, after edging Mount St. Mary's, 69-68, at the Spiro Sports Center back on February 24, 2018.
- The head-to-head series between the Green & White and the Mountaineers began back on January 6, 1987, in which the Mountaineers defeated the Seahawks, 88-58, on Staten Island, NY.
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Seahawk Tidbits:
- As of 1/16/19, Wagner ranks among the top-100 in the entire NCAA in three-point field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 29.1 percent shooting from the outside. Miami (OH) leads all of Division I, holding opponents to just 20.8 percent shooting from the outside.
- Senior Nakylia Carter is fourth among all-NEC seniors and all-league players in assists per game, dishing out 3.3 per contest. Carter matched her season-high total in assists on Monday against Fairleigh Dickinson, dishing out seven helpers in the Seahawks 71-59 victory over the Knights.
- Sophomore Taylah Simmons, who is Wagner's leading scorer at 12.0 ppg, ranks third among all-NEC sophomores in that department and is one of three Seahawk sophomores ranked among the top-15 in that category. Khaleah Edwards is sixth, averaging 9.0 ppg while teammate Alayshia Dailey is 13th, scoring 7.4 ppg.
- Dailey is third among second-year players in assists, dishing out 2.7 per contest, which is tied with Robert Morris Nina Augustin.
- Fresh off her ninth double digit scoring game of the season, newcomer Emilija Krista Grava remains the second-leader freshman scorer in the NEC, tallying 10.9 ppg, which trails LIU Brooklyn's Brandy Thomas by a single point per game (11.9). Krista Grava is pulling down 5.9 rebounds a contest, second most among all-newcomers (12th overall in the NEC), while shooting 43.8 percent from the field, third best among all-freshmen (11th overall).
- Wagner is 4-0 this season when leading at the half, outscoring their opponents by over 12 points per contest (40.5-to-28.3). Wagner is shooting 53.0 percent in these contests and converting on 48.6 percent from the outside. The Seahawks defense is limiting their opponents to just 21.9 percent shooting from three-point range in the opening half of these contests.
- Over the last five games, Wagner, who is 3-2, is outscoring their opponents by nearly five points a contest (72.2-to-67.4) as four Seahawks are averaging double figures during this span: Simmons (15.8p, 7.2r, 53.2%FG), Krista Grava (12.4p, 6.0r, 1.6b), Edwards (10.4p, 3.8r, 42.2%FG), and Dailey (10.2p, 4.4r, 2.8a).
Scouting The Mount St. Mary's University Mountaineers:
- Mount St. Mary's, who was predicted to finish in a tie for fifth-place with St. Francis Brooklyn in the annual preseason coaches' poll, comes into this afternoon's contest with a 7-8 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Northeast Conference (NEC) tilts after picking up their first conference victory on Monday evening over Central Connecticut, 84-53, at Knott Arena.
- The Mountaineers opened up league play in Western Pennsylvania, squaring off against Robert Morris and Saint Francis U. On January 5, the Mountaineers dropped a 70-58 decision and on Monday, the Mount was edged by the Red Flash, 68-66.
- Over the last five games, Mount St. Mary's, under second-year head coach, Maria Marchesano, are 2-3, while averaging 73.0 points per game during this stretch.
- The Mountaineers rank third in scoring, averaging 68.8 ppg while shooting 41.4 percent from the floor, which ranks second behind St. Francis Brooklyn (44.0%). Additionally, the Mountaineers are shooting 35.0 percent from beyond-the-arc, which is second-best in the league, also behind St. Francis Brooklyn (40.6%). Mount St. Mary's is second in assists, dishing out 13.5 per contest.
- Mount St. Mary's have three players averaging in double-figures, led by Juliette Lawless, who is third in the league, at 18.3 ppg. Daly Sullivan and Michaela Harrison are among the top-15, pouring in 11.1 and 10.9 points per game, respectively. Rebecca Lee is the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 8.7 caroms a contest, which ranks fourth in the NEC a contest.
- Lee and Lawless rank first and second in the conference in field goal percentage, as Lee is shooting 52.7 percent and Lawless at 51.7%.
Up Next For Wagner:
- Wagner gears up for a three-game road stretch, beginning on Monday afternoon as the Seahawks travel to Fairfield, CT to tangle with the Sacred Heart University Pioneers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 21).
- Tip-off from the Pitt Center is slated for 1:00 p.m.
