Mitchell Layton

Box Score

Wagner WAGNERW 8-15,4-8 NEC

Merrimack MCW 16-8,9-4 NEC

Wagner WAGNERW

8-15,4-8 NEC

Final

Feb. 15, 2020

Merrimack MCW

16-8,9-4 NEC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Wagner WAGNERW	14	7	13	10	44
Merrimack MCW	19	11	6	19	55

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/15/20

Wagner Relinquishes Fourth Quarter Lead, Falls To Merrimack On Saturday

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Mount St. Mary's

2/17/2020 | 1:00 PM

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Feb. 17 (Mon) / 1:00 PM

Mount St. Mary's

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North Andover, MA - The Wagner College women's basketball team held a 42-39 lead with 6:16 left to go in the contest before Merrimack went on a 14-0 run in taking a 53-42 advantage and holding on to defeat the Seahawks, 55-44, on Saturday afternoon at Hammel Court.

Sophomore Emilija Krista Grava led all scorers this afternoon, netting 28 points on 13 of 27 shooting from the field. The second-year Seahawk forward corralled a team-best eight rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

Merrimack had two players finish in double digits, led by Denia Davis-Stewart, the Northeast Conference (NEC) leading scorer, as she posted 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while playing the full forty. Jayme Decesare racked up 12 points in 28 minutes of play.

The Basics:

Records: Wagner (8-15; 4-8 NEC) | Merrimack (16-8, 9-4 NEC)
Series History: Merrimack now leads the all-time head-to-head series, 1-0

How It Happened:
First Quarter

The Green & White held a 9-2 lead at the 6:35 mark of the opening quarter as Krista Grava was able to get the pass from redshirt senior guard Janelle Mullen and completed the traditional three-point play to give Wagner a seven-point edge.
Merrimack leaned on Davis-Stewart, who finished the frame with eight points, as her two free-throws ignited an 11-0 run by the Warriors, as they took a 13-9 lead.
The Seahawks cut the deficit down to three at 17-14, as Krista Grava hit from the elbow
Krista Grava spearheaded the Seahawks offense in the opening quarter, scoring all 14 points for the Seahawks.
A Decesare layup with under a minute to go capped the first quarter scoring as the Warriors took a five-point lead.

Second Quarter

Both teams struggled finding opportunities over the first part of the quarter.
Clasen made two from the line for Merrimack for the first points of the stanza.
Cowan swished home the first made field goal of the quarter for the visitors, trimming into the Warriors lead, 21-16.
A mini 6-2 spurt from Merrimack increased the lead to 27-18 before Hobson was able to knock one down from the outside.

Third Quarter

The Seahawks outscored the Warriors 13-3 before Kate Mager beat the third quarter buzzer with a corner triple to give Merrimack a 36-34 lead.
Over the 9:30 span, Wagner hit on 6 of 17 from the floor while limiting the Warriors to just one made field in 16 chances before the three from Mager.
The Green & White forced eight turnovers and turned those Merrimack mishaps into nine points.

Fourth Quarter

Wagner opened the final period with back-to-back jumpers as freshman guard Alex Cowan and Krista Grava helped the Seahawks regain the lead, 38-36.
Following Davis-Strewart going 1 of 2 from the line, Krista Grava got the pass from Mullen and once again was able to convert with Wagner going up 40-37, with 7:58 showing on the game clock.
Merrimack's Kaylee Thomas hit on the contested layup which made it 40-39 in favor of Wagner.
Thomas nearly gave the home team the lead back but Hobson was able to corral the loose ball and was rewarded by hitting a two from the corner that made it 42-39.
Mager sparked the comeback with a jumper which subsequently turned out to be the pivotal point for the Warriors comeback, as they ratted off 12 straight points in forcing Wagner to call for time with 36 seconds left.
Krista Grava scored her final points of the day leading to a Warriors timeout to advance the ball.
Mager made two free-throws to end the contest.

Inside The Numbers:

Mullen finished with a team-leading five helpers, matching her career-high, when she dished out five assists as a member of Saint Peter's against Iona back on February 22, 2017 in New Rochelle, NY.
Collectively, Wagner's ability to defend the three-point shot has improved, as the Seahawks have held their opponents to under 30.0 percent shooting in four of the last five games (Bryant, .059 | Fairleigh Dickinson, .185 | Saint Francis U, .222 | Merrimack, .188)
Krista Grava has now gone over the 20-point threshold six times this season while today also marked the 15th double-figure scoring game for the Latvian-born Seahawk and 25th for her career.
The Green & White move to 5-5 this year when Krista Grava scores in double-figures.
Today's game featured five lead changes and three ties.

Postgame Comments:
Head Coach Heather Jacobs

On Merrimack..."Merrimack is a quality program that will continue to do well in the Northeast Conference (NEC)."

Wagner's Strong Third Quarter Defensive Charge... "Our pressure was able to force some turnovers and force them into taking contested shots. When we got a few of those mishaps, we weren't able to capitalize on them the we should have."

Returning to your "hometown" of Massachusetts... "It was great to be home... Seeing a lot of a friends and family that came out to support me and the team, meant a lot. It would have been a bit better if we came out on the other side of this one."

Looking At Mount St. Mary's on Monday... "Looking forward to being back at the Spiro Sports Center and fine tuning what didn't work against Merrimack and correcting our mistakes the first time against the Mountaineers earlier this sesason."

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