BOX SCORE

Fairfield, CT – Junior center Kelly Clark (Neptune, NJ/ St. Rose) poured in a game-high 24 points but Sacred Heart did a solid job neutralizing Wagner's other offensive weapons as the Pioneers held off the Seahawks 70-52 in Northeast Conference (NEC) action.

The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Seahawks as their record falls to 7-6 overall, 0-2 in the NEC. With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 8-5 on the season, 2-0 in league play.

Wagner seized an early 17-8 lead before Sacred Heart secured the lead for good with 9:23 left in the first half at 22-21 on a layup by Ericka Norman, a bucket that came in the midst of a 15-0 run which helped the Pioneers build a 34-28 halftime edge.

At the outset of the second half, the Seahawks whittled the deficit to 36-32 on a Clark layup off an assist by senior forward Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY/ Notre Dame Academy) with 18:54 remaining in the game. But that is as close as the Seahawks would get as the Pioneers answered with a 12-0 run spanning 6:35 in building a commanding 48-32 lead with 13:30 left to play. Callan Taylor keyed the Sacred Heart surge by scoring six of the 12 points on a pair of field goals and a pair of free throws. Her second free throw, with 13:30 left, gave Sacred Heart the 16-point lead.

Wagner fought gallantly, trimming the deficit to 11 on three separate occasions, the last time at the 7:26 mark when a free throw by senior guard Megan Mahoney (Staten Island, NY/ St. Peter's) drew the Seahawks to within 54-43 at the 7:26 mark. In the end, Wagner was undone by a season-high 28 turnovers, which proved to be the key statistic in the game. Sacred Heart, which was guilty of just 10 turnovers, held a whopping 33-5 advantage in points off of turnovers. Due to the plethora of turnovers, Wagner was unable to take advantage of its 42-27 en edge in rebounds. The shooting numbers were nearly dead even as the Pioneers held a slim 41-39 percent margin.

Clark was the only Seahawk to finish in double figures as Olsen was Wagner's second-leading scorer with eight. Mahoney, who earlier in the day was named Northeast Conference Player of the Week, was a focal point of the Sacred Heart defense. The 5-7 senior was held to five points on 2-of-7 shooting.
The Pioneers were extremely balanced in their scoring as five players tallied 11 points apiece in Taylor, Norman, Maggie Cosgrove, Kiley Evans and Blair Koniszewski.

Wagner exploded out of the gates, beginning the game on a 10-4 run with four of those points coming from Clark. Wagner took its biggest lead of the game of eight at 17-9 on a three-point jumper by sophomore forward Marie-Laurence Archambault (Montreal, Quebec/ Montmorency) off a feed from Mahoney at the 13:53 mark. Sacred Heart responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 17-17 with 11:30 left in the half. This run was keyed by three-pointers from Cosgrove and Koniszewski.

Wagner ran off the next four points on layups by Clark and senior guard Stephanie McBride (Mechanicville, NY/ Catholic Central) which put the Seahawks on top 21-17. Sacred Heart then answered with a pivotal 15-0 run that staked the Pioneers to a 32-21 lead with 6:14 remaining in the half. Wagner committed four turnovers during the run and was held without a point for 5:23. Norman tallied six points in the Sacred Heart run. Wagner ended the half on a 7-2 spurt to go into the locker room at halftime trailing by just the 34-28 count.

Wagner outshot Sacred Heart in the first half 39 percent to 36 percent but the Seahawks were undone by a bevy of turnovers and some hot three-point shooting by the Pioneers. The Seahawks committed 16 turnovers in the opening stanza while Sacred Heart turned the ball over just four times. The Pioneers were 5-of-11 from beyond the arc while Wagner was just 1-of-4 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

Clark led all scorers with 12 first-half points while Koniszewski, Cosgrove and Norman each had six points for Sacred Hear in the first half.

Wagner is next in action on Saturday, Jan. 8 when the Seahawks return home to the friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center to host Saint Francis (PA) at 3:00 pm.

NOTES – According to the latest NCAA statistics released prior to the game today, Clark's .571 shooting percentage, which leads the NEC, ranks 19th in the nation. As a team, Wagner is ranked 25th nationally in three-point shooting percentage (.370). Olsen and Archambault saw their five-game double-digit scorings streak end at five. In addition to her 24 points, Clark pulled down 10 rebounds as she notched dher third double-double of the season. Archambault finished 1-of-2 from beyond the arc. This marked just the second time this season that Archambault failed to make at least two three-pointers. Wagner made 17-of-24 free throws (.708), which was its second-best effort of the season from the charity stripe, bettered only by the .794 effort vs. Saint Peter's (12/21) when Wagner made 27-of-34. The 18-point loss marked the second-largest margin of defeat for the Seahawks this season as Wagner dropped a 19-point decision (62-43) to Albany on Nov. 27. The 52 points tied for the lowest output by the Seahawks this season as Wagner defeated Army 52-48 in overtime in the season opener on Nov. 12.