Jan. 21, 2008

Box Score

Brooklyn, NY - Long Island (13-4; 4-2 NEC) parlayed good shooting and tough defense into a 61-39 win over Wagner (2-15; 0-6 NEC) in Martin Luther King Day action at the Wellness Center. The Blackbirds shot 42.1 percent (24-57) from the floor and limited the Seahawks to just 30.2 percent shooting (16-53) while outrebounding the Green & White 47-25.

LIU opened the game up with six-straight points before senior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) and freshman Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) connected on a pair of jumpers. Wagner trailed just 14-11 with 10:49 to go following a three from junior Casey Stokes (Hummelstown, PA / Lower Daupin). The Blackbirds' offense then put it into overdrive with a 19-4 run to close the half while the defense forced Wagner into 2-13 shooting and five turnovers. During the back-breaking spurt, reigning NEC MVP sophomore Valerie Nainima hit for 11 points, including three triples, as LIU went into halftime up 33-15. Nainima scored all of her game-high 14 points in the decisive first period.

In the opening stanza, Wagner shot just 24.1 percent (7-29), compared to 48.0 percent (12-25) for the home-standing Blackbirds. LIU also hit on 5-11 from downtown and outrebounded the Seahawks 23-11.

LIU picked up where it left off in the first with a 20-6 run to open the second period while pushing the lead out to 53-21 with 11:27 to play. The Seahwaks countered with an 11-0 run to trim the lead to 53-32 with an 11-0 run of their own, highlighted by a pair of buckets from sophomore John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech), five points from Stokes and two free throws from freshman Ashlee Redmond (Maywood, NJ / Hackensack). Wagner would cut it to 20 but could get no closer before falling 61-39.

Leading the way for Wagner was Stokes, who hit for a team-best 10 points with three steals against just one turnover in 36 minutes. Olsen and Bunyer also notched six points and senior Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) pulled down a team-best six rebounds.

Mikaelar Whippy joined Nainima in double-digits with 11 points while pulling down seven rebounds.

Wagner completes its three-game road trip at Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4:30 pm.