Pictured Above: Sophomore
Khaleah Edwards (Credit Dave Saffran)
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Brooklyn Heights, NY – Trailing 44-30 at halftime, the Wagner College women's basketball team erupted on a 15-6 run over the first three minutes of the third quarter to cut the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers lead to five, 50-45, before succumbing to the Terriers, 76-61, on Saturday afternoon at the Pope Physical Education Center.
Saturday's contest was the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both programs as with the setback, Wagner falls to 2-10 on the season and 0-1 in league play while St. Francis Brooklyn improves to 7-6 on the season and 1-0 in conference action.
Three Seahawks finished the contest scoring in double figures, led by sophomore
Khaleah Edwards, who poured in a team-best 14 points in 36 minutes of action. Fellow classmate,
Taylah Simmons, contributed 12 points off-the-bench on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor in 21 minutes of play. Freshman
Emilija Krista Grava turned in her seventh double digit scoring performance of the season, finishing with 10 points.
The Green & White also got contributions from sophomore guard
Alayshia Dailey, who tallied eight points and four rebounds while senior
Nakylia Carter rattled off six points to go along with team-highs in rebounds (5), assists (6) and steals (3).
Jade Johnson led the way for SFBK with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field in 36 minutes. Ebony Horton added 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 37 minutes of play while Amy O'Neill added 18 points to go along with a game-best eight assists, six steals and six rebounds for the Terriers.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm early in the contest, as St. Francis Brooklyn went two minutes before scoring its second bucket to take an early 4-0 lead. Wagner got on the board as Krista Grava was able to hit a jumper in the paint at the 6:08 mark of the opening frame.
Following a Horton jumper that made it 6-2 in favor of the home team, the visiting Seahawks took its first lead of the contest, 7-6, as Krista Grava once again scored before Edwards dialed up a left wing three-pointer. Both teams traded buckets before Johnson put the Terriers ahead 10-9, sparking a 10-2 outburst as the Terriers led 18-9 before freshman forward
Enas Nigatu was able to bank home the layup off the feed from junior forward
Jordan Hobson, that concluded the first quarter with Wagner trailing 18-11.
The Terriers opened up the second quarter on a 14-7 run, extending its lead to 32-18 as the Terriers held Wagner to just 3-of-5 shooting over the near four minute stretch while the Terriers went a perfect, 5-of-5 from the floor.
Edwards converted on her second three-pointer of the contest, igniting a 7-0 run that brought the Seahawks within seven, 32-25, before O'Neill's layup stopped Wagner's run. Over the final 2:22 of the quarter, St. Francis Brooklyn outscored Wagner, 10-5, in taking a 44-30 lead. Edwards led the way for the Seahawks in the first half with 11 points as the Green & White shot 54.2 percent from the floor.
When play resumed for the second half, Wagner got the scoring going on four straight free throws from Carter, that trimmed the Terriers advantage to ten, 44-34. An 11-4 Wagner run, that started with Krista Grava's layup and concluding with Dailey's layup closed the deficit to just five, 50-45, with 6:21 remaining in the quarter before the Terriers responded with an 11-4 run of its own to take a 61-49 lead heading into the final period.
Simmons led the offensive charge for the visitors, scoring ten of her 12 points in the fourth but St. Francis Brooklyn had a 70-59 advantage at the 5:47 marked and scored six of the final eight points in securing its first conference victory of the season.
For the game, Wagner shot 50.0 percent from the field (26-of-52) while going 4-of-4 from the free throw line. St. Francis Brooklyn, who converted on 60.0 percent from the floor, went to the line 18 times (12-of-18) and held a 27-18 edge on the boards.
The Seahawks close out the first week of NEC action on Monday, January 7 as they travel to New Britain, CT to tangle with Central Connecticut at 7:00 p.m. from Detrick Gymnasium.
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Wagner Athletics
Women's Basketball:
Head Coach
Heather Jacobs:
