Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
Fairfield, CT – The Wagner College women's basketball team, behind three Seahawks scoring in double-figures, secured a 67-62 road victory on Thursday afternoon over the Sacred Heart University Pioneers at the Pitt Center.
The win marked Wagner's (1-1; 1-0 NEC) first over the Pioneers since January 13, 2014, snapping SHU's 13-game win streak over the Green & White. Additionally, today's triumph was Wagner's first at the Pitt Center since January 18, 2000.
Junior
Kem Nwabudu, making her Wagner debut, was one of three Seahawks scoring in double-figures, netting a team-high 20 points while connecting on 7-of-15 from the field. The Elmont, NY native also corralled six rebounds and swiped two steals in her 30 minutes of action.
Classmate
Emilija Krista Grava chipped in 15 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists. Senior guard
Alayshia Dailey finished the contest with 11 points, six of which came over a two-minute span that helped increase Wagner's advantage to 11, 64-53, with 3:47 left in regulation.
Adrianne Hagood led all players with 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor while going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. No other Pioneer reached double-digits. Carly Stroemel finished with six points and a game-best 11 rebounds while Kelsey Wood added eight points and ten caroms off-the-bench.
Inside the Boxscore...
- Wagner shot 46.2 percent from the floor while limiting Sacred Heart to just 33.3 percent.
- Today's contest featured ten lead changes and five ties, with the Seahawks holding the lead for 29:10 while the Pioneers led for just 8:34.
- Wagner turned 20 Pioneer turnovers into 25 points.
- The Seahawks reserves outscored Sacred Heart, 26-16.
- The Pioneers held a 41-30 edge on the boards.
How It Happened…
First Quarter
- Nwabudu got the Seahawks on the board first with a mid-range jumper off the feed from Khaleah Edwards.
- Olivia Dabney converted from the outside as SHU took a slim 5-2 lead.
- The two teams traded buckets until Nwabudu was able to lay one off-the-window in tying the game at 10-10 midway through the opening quarter.
- Sacred Heart outscored Wagner, 7-3, in closing out the first quarter with a 20-17 lead.
- Wagner hit for 55.6 percent in the opening frame while the Pioneers were held to just 41.7 percent, but capitalized from the free-throw line, hitting 9-of-10 in the first.
Second Quarter
- Wagner turned up the pressure on the Pioneers, erupting on a 9-0 run and taking a 26-20 lead after Kate Tokuhara was able to dial one up from the outside.
- Sacred Heart outscored the visitors, 9-4, to trim the deficit to one, 34-33, thanks to a Sonia Smith jumper which brought an end to the first half of play.
Third Quarter
- When play resumed for the second half, it was Sacred Heart that found the early momentum as Jayla Davis was able to soar to the hoop, forcing Wagner to burn a timeout at the 8:27 mark.
- The Seahawks answered back in the form of a 10-2 run over the next four minutes of action in taking a 44-39 lead thanks to an Edwards left-handed layup.
- Wagner concluded the third quarter with five straight points, capped by a Marisa Sanchez-Henry three-pointer off-the-feed from Edwards as Wagner built a 53-44 lead heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Tokuhara was the beneficiary of an errant Pioneer pass as she was able to hit the step-back jumper from Edwards as the Seahawks went up by 11, 55-44.
- The Pioneers closed the gap to four, 55-51, thanks to a Hagood three-pointer but the Seahawks sparked an 11-4 burst, thanks in large part to Dailey's six straight points.
- Krista Grava pushed the lead back to eleven, 66-55, after hitting a pair from the line.
- Sacred Heart scored seven of the final eight points but it wasn't enough as Wagner was able to hold on for the five-point victory.
Postgame Interview...
Head Coach Heather Jacobs:
- Opening Statement...
- "Today was a total team effort and everybody contributed and that's where you want to be."
- On how you (and the coaching staff) and the players approached today's game...
- "Everyone was super excited to be out there and we are extremely grateful to be in a position to compete."
- On the play of Kem Nwabudu, Emilija Krista Grava, and Alayshia Dailey...
- "You can see that Kem and Emilija were working out some things early but as the game progressed, you can see where they were, where they are, and where they are going... That is what's most exciting."
- "Alayshia, you know, she showed her experience today. Her composure...she knew when to pass, she knew when to score, and she's always been a terrific defender. I think her offensive balance was exceptional today."
- On bench production...
- "Like I mentioned in the beginning, total team effort from top-to-bottom."
- "I think that Amanda (Pollard) and Drayah (Heyward) and maybe even Kate (Tokuhara), too, were on the floor when we first took our six-point lead early in the game."
- "It is a fun seat to sit in when you know you can do that, especially when you know you need fresh legs and we are going to be playing so quick... the ability to have that kind of depth I think will be huge for us this year."
- Defending Sacred Heart...
- "We knew that we had to keep them in front, but if we didn't, we had to stop, drop and rotate and I think we did a good job in that area."
- "We have to work more on the boards and clean that part up as we gave up too many offensive rebounds today."
- Facing Sacred Heart on a quick turnaround...
- "Today, we got in early foul trouble... we talked about being disciplined and keeping them in front but we adjusted."
- "They tried to double us in the post but we anticipated that and worked on it to be prepared in case they decided to do so.
- "Ultimately, we need to stay within our focus and tweak some things around when we play them tomorrow."
Junior forward, Kem Nwabudu:
- On the first game as a Seahawk...
- "This whole week I was kind of anxious...It wasn't even about the game, it was my first game in a while, it is just a new team thing."
- "I was anxious more about how my chemistry would work with my teammates but mostly just excited to go out there with my teammates and just play."
- "I kept a smile on the whole time."
- On being back on the court...
- "It felt good, felt comfortable, it felt like we have been practicing forever and now we get to show off what we have been practicing for."
Up Next…
- These two teams close out their two-game series on Friday afternoon from the Pitt Center.
- Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. and will be streamed on NEC Front Row.
