Brooklyn Heights, NY – Northeast Conference (NEC) play kicks off 2019 as the Wagner College women's basketball team opens league play with a pair of road games, beginning on Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn Heights, NY against the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers.
Wagner snapped a seven-game losing as the Seahawks concluded their non-conference slate with an 86-59 wire-to-wire victory over College of Staten Island (CSI) back on December 21.
St. Francis Brooklyn is looking to get back in the win column after dropping its third straight contest, closing out 2018 with a 74-67 road setback at Stony Brook on December 30.
Opening Tip:
- Saturday's matchup between Wagner and St. Francis Brooklyn marks just the fourth time since the league's inception (1986-87) that these schools, who are separated by a mere 11.5-mile, 20-minute drive across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, will be squaring off in the opening game of the league schedule.
- The last time this occurred was back on December 3, 2012, when Wagner defeated SFBK, 49-45, on Staten Island.
- Since the 1998-99 season, Wagner is 7-13 in NEC openers and in those contests, the Seahawks are 5-7 in road NEC lidlifters.
Inside The Numbers:
- 160 - Head women's basketball coach, Heather Jacobs, picked up career coaching victory number 160 when Wagner defeated College of Staten Island, 86-59, back on December 21 at the Spiro Sports Center.
- 58 - Wins Wagner has secured against St. Francis Brooklyn, the most against Division I New York based program.
- 2 - Times this season that five or more Seahawks have scored in double digits. Against CSI (12/21/18), five went for double figures. Against Longwood (11/14/18), six players topped the double-digit plateau.
- 0.6 - Points is the average scoring margin between Wagner and St. Francis Brooklyn over the last five contests with the Seahawks outscoring SFBK, 63.2 to 62.6
Last Time Out For Wagner:
- Five Seahawks scored in double figures as the Wagner College women's basketball team topped the College of Staten Island, 86-59, in the Battle of the Borough on December 21 at the Spiro Sports Center.
- Senior guard Nakylia Carter netted a team-high with 15 points to go along with a season-best seven assists in 31 minutes of action. The Oklahoma City, OK native also recorded a team-leading five steals, marking the sixth straight game of at least two steals or more for Carter.
- Freshman forward Emilija Krista Grava recorded her second straight double-digit performance, tallying 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Taylah Simmons posted her second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and team-high ten caroms in her 16 minutes of play.
- Also reaching double figures for the Green & White were junior forward Jordan Hobson and sophomore Khaleah Edwards, each netting 11 points apiece for the home team, who tied a season-high of 86 points, in which they achieved in its 86-60 win over Longwood back on November 14.
- Megan McEwan led the way for Staten Island with 15 points while Diana Todaro and Rosa Perone added 10 points apiece. Todaro led the Dolphins with 13 rebounds in the setback.
Inside The Wagner | St. Francis Brooklyn Series:
- Wagner and St. Francis Brooklyn will be squaring off for the 79th time with the Seahawks holding a 58-20 edge in the all-time series.
- In Northeast Conference (NEC) openers, this marks just the fourth time these local rivals will open up the conference season against one another, as the Green & White are 2-1 in three all-time meetings, the last coming back on December 3, 2012, in which Wagner earned a 49-45 triumph over the Terriers on Staten Island.
- The Seahawks are looking for back-to-back wins over St. Francis Brooklyn after splitting last year's matchups, picking up a 50-47 win at the Spiro Sports Center back on February 3.
- Since 2002, Wagner is 16-10 against the Terriers,
- The Green & White are looking to snap a two-game skid against St. Francis Brooklyn at the Pope Physical Education Center, last earning an 82-78 overtime win back on February 1, 2016.
Empire State Of Mind:
- Wagner is 200-176 all-time against New York state-based Division I opponents.
Wagner All-Time Record Against New York State Division I Based Schools (bold indicates 2018-19 opponent)
| Team |
Record |
| Albany |
2-5 |
| Army West Point |
3-7 |
| Binghamton |
1-1 |
| Buffalo |
0-0 |
| Canisius |
0-0 |
| Colgate |
4-10 |
| Columbia |
16-8 |
| Cornell |
1-2 |
| Fordham |
7-11 |
| Hofstra |
19-10 |
| Iona |
4-12 |
| LIU Brooklyn |
43-39 |
| Manhattan |
7-9 |
| Marist |
21-12 |
| Niagara |
0-2 |
| St. Bonaventure |
0-0 |
| St. Francis Brooklyn |
58-20 |
| St. John's |
1-14 |
| Siena |
6-7 |
| Stony Brook |
8-5 |
| Syracuse |
0-2 |
Scouting St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers:
- Under first-year head coach, Linda Cimino, St. Francis Brooklyn finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 6-6 overall record. The Terriers raced to a 3-0 start, outscoring its opponents 285-189 as SFBK averaged 95.0 points while holding its foes to just 63 over the first three contests.
- St. Francis Brooklyn scored at least 70 points in its first six games, going 4-2 during that stretch before falling to Army West Point, 69-57, back on November 28.
- Predicted to finish in a tie for fifth place with Mount St. Mary's in the preseason poll, the Terriers and the Mountaineers are the only two programs in the conference to finish the non-league slate at .500 or better with St. Francis Brooklyn racking up the most out-of-conference victories with six.
- The Terriers are averaging a league-best 78.0 ppg while allowing the second-most points.74.5.
- SFBK leads the NEC in FT%, 3-Point FG%, Rebounding Offense, Assists and Assist/Turnover Ratio
- Jade Johnson is the team's leading scorer at 18.3 ppg, third-best in the NEC while teammate Maria Palarino has grabbed a team-best 6.5 rpg (5th in the NEC).
- Ally Lassen is shooting a league-best 51.4 percent from the floor while Mia Ehling and Johnson are first and second, respectively, in three-point shooting at 45.7 and 44.8 percent. Amy O'Neill is dishing out a league-high 7.8 helpers a contest.
- Collectively, SFBK is shooting 43.1% from the FG, 41.3% from three and are a +3.9 on the boards.
Seahawk Tidbits:
- As of 1/1/19, Wagner is among the top-75 programs in all of Division I in three-point field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 27.9 percent shooting from the outside. Among the ten-NEC schools, Wagner is second in this department.
- Freshman forward Emilija Krista Grava, who leads the Seahawks in scoring at 10.4 ppg, currently ranks second among all-NEC freshmen in minutes played (29.0), rebounds (6.0) and third in scoring. Krista Grava is shooting 43.5 percent, good for fifth among all-NEC newcomers. Additionally, in six road games this season, Krista Grava is pouring in 12.2 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rpg in 31.0 minutes of action.
- Over the last five games, junior forward Jordan Hobson is the lone Seahawk to average double-figures, averaging 10.4 ppg on a robust 54.8 percent shooting from the floor in 14.4 minutes of play. Hobson enters play against the Terriers scoring in double-figures in three straight contests.
- Senior guard, Nakylia Carter has logged 30 or more minutes in every game this season.
Up Next For Wagner:
- Wagner concludes the opening week of Northeast Conference (NEC) play on January 7 when the Seahawks travel to Central Connecticut for a 7:00 p.m. tip at Detrick Gymnasium.
