Wirth's Six Triples Lead Blackbirds to 61-50 Victory Over Wagner

(boxscore)

2/24/06 -- The Long Island University women's basketball team bounced back from a home court loss on Monday, defeating Wagner, 61-50, in Northeast Conference action on Friday evening.

Senior Amber Wirth (Hastings, Minn.) led all scorers with 20 points. Her six three-pointers in the contest leave her four shy of tying the all-time three-pointers made record at LIU (Kim MacMillan - 286).

Junior Marquita Thompson (Garland, Texas) followed with 15 points on 6-of-13 from the field. Classmate Sonya Coleman (Toledo, Ohio) also scored in double-figures with 10.

Thompson banked a layup in to help LIU (13-13, 11-6 NEC) push to a five-point advantage (11-6) with 12:10 on the clock. Moments later, a put back by Takesha Dye tied the game at 11-11. Wagner’s Chelsea Bunyer hit a jumper at the 5:33 mark to give the home team a 20-15 edge.

Junior Brittani Kozik (Belle Plaine, Iowa) sank a 3-ball to cut the margin to one, 24-23, with 2:33 showing. Thompson converted a 3-point play with 1:20 remaining to tie the game for a third time at 26-26.

Sara Oblak (Skofja Loka, Slovenia) made a layup as time expired to push the Blackbirds to a 28-26 lead at intermission.

LIU went on an 11-2 run that featured a pair of triples from Wirth to start the second frame. Six consecutive points from Coleman gave the Blackbirds a seven-point lead (45-38) with 7:46 showing.

LIU led by as many as 12 in the second period as they took the game, 61-50.

The Seahawks (2-24, 2-15) had two players in double-figures. Ali Ridge paced Wagner with 16 points and nine rebounds while Bunyer tallied 14 points.

The Blackbirds finish their regular season slate on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Central Connecticut State at 7:00 p.m.