STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Wagner College women's basketball team took down Ivy League member Cornell by a score of 67-54 at the Spiro Sports Center on Sunday afternoon.
Wagner (2-6, 0-0 NEC) led by as many as seven in the first quarter. Junior Saioa San Francisco and senior Irene Fernandez de Caleya both knocked down two three-pointers within the first eight minutes of play. Both Fernandez de Caleya and San Francisco concluded the first with six points to lead the Seahawks.
Wagner shot 7-11 (63.6%) during the opening frame, including 4-5 (80%) from beyond-the-arc.
Cornell (4-4, 0-0 Ivy League) brought it to a two-point game at the expiration of the first quarter. Guard Paige Engels led the Big Red with five points.
A back-and-forth second quarter ended with Wagner extending its small lead to four, 32-28. The Seahawks held a lead for the entirety of the quarter and had their bench outscore that of Cornell's, 9-2. Wagner also grabbed 10 rebounds to Cornell's eight.
Senior Raneem Elbarky scored six points and corralled four rebounds during the frame.
After halftime, the Seahawks continued to shoot the ball well, putting up 8-15 (53.3%) in the third quarter, while holding the Big Red to 4-13 (30.8%) throughout the same time span.
Wagner dominated in the paint, scoring 14 points in the area while Cornell only had six points in the paint in the third. Junior Lijirin Doyinsola Modesayor scored 10 of her 12 points in the third, helping the Seahawks control the paint.
At the end of the third, Wagner held a 51-39 lead.
Elbarky shot a perfect 4-4 in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of her team-high 15 points during the final period. The Seahawks took a 13-point lead with just over four minutes remaining and never looked back, prevailing for their second win of the season, 67-54.
The Seahawks outscored the Big Red, 22-12, in points in the paint in the second half.
Along with Elbarky's 15-points, Modesayor added 12 points and four rebounds while Fernandez de Caleya added 11 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
Next up, the Green & White head to Levien Gymnasium to take on Ivy League member Columbia for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off on December 6.
