March 3, 2008

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - On the day Wagner honored its three seniors it was Fairleigh Dickinson who spoiled the party with a hard-fought 58-52 win that eliminated the Green & White from the Northeast Conference (NEC) playoff race. With the win, the Knights improve to 13-16 and 9-9 in the NEC and will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tourney while the Seahawks conclude their campaign with a 7-22 record and a 5-13 NEC mark. Despite the loss, Wagner has lots to be proud of as its seven wins and five NEC victories match the Seahawks' combined total for the last three seasons.

Senior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) paced Wagner for the 14th time on the year with a team-high 14 points, a personal-best nine rebounds and matched her career-high with four steals in 37 minutes. She concluded her career 14th on the all-time Seahawk scoring list with 1,220 points. Classmate Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) also had a solid game with 13 points, while knocking down 7-8 at the free throw line, with seven rebounds before picking up her fifth foul on a controversial call with 4:28 remaining in the game. Ridge finishes her career with 569 points and a school-record 201 blocks. The third and final senior Ieva Sulskyte (Vilnius, Lithuania / Daytona Beach CC) recorded a career-high five blocks on the evening and her basket with 51 seconds remaining tied the game at 52-52. Her 42 blocks on the year were second only to Ridge. She finished her two-year Seahawk career with 188 points and 66 blocks.

After Sulskyte's lay-up tied the game up at 52-52, Bunyer was whistled for a foul, sending Christy Altamirano to the charity stripe with 35 seconds remaining. The sophomore forward hit both shots and on the following possession FDU's leading scorer and rebounder, Jennifer Walkling was whistled for her fifth foul sending Wagner to the line for two. Unfortunately, the Green & White would miss both and Altamirano hit four free throws down the stretch to ice the Knights' 58-52 victory.

Though entering the game last in the NEC in free throw shooting, FDU proved to be clutch over the final five minutes hitting on 9-10, including six-straight from Altamirano. In the pivotal second period, the Knights hit on 77.8 percent (14-18) from the charity stripe while Wagner was good on just 53.8 percent (7-13).

Wagner assumed their biggest lead of the game at 36-29 with 15:15 remaining after using a 15-6 run to start the second period. During the spurt, sophomore Andrea Reed (Pocomoke City, MD / Pocomoke) and Ridge combined for all 15 points with Reed scoring nine of the points. FDU would not roll over as the Knights put together an 11-2 run over 5:27 to go back in front 40-38 with 9:32 remaining. Freshman Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) helped Wagner reassume the lead with a three pointer off a pretty pass from Sulskyte to begin the night's frantic finish.

The first half was a sluggish affair as both teams shot under 35 percent. FDU entered halftime up 23-21 thanks to a 25-19 advantage on the glass that led to 10 points in the paint, compared to just two for the Green & White.

Reed capped a fantastic sophomore campaign with 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. She led the NEC with 5.3 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game while finishing second on the team with 8.4 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Altamirano led FDU with a game-high 18 points and Shanay Freeman added 11 points.

Next season, Wagner returns nine letterwinners and three student-athletes that started at least 15 games