Radwan's Clutch Shots Helps LIU Women's Basketball to
55-47 Triumph over Wagner

(boxscore)

1/10/05 -- Junior Goska Radwan (Stalowa Vola, Poland) hit two critical shots in the closing minutes as Long Island held off Wagner, 55-47, in Northeast Conference action at Schwartz Center.

Wagner (0-11, 0-2 NEC), down 24-15 in the opening half, moved to 47-43 with 2:44 remaining when Jessie Collins buried a 3-pointer from the right wing. Radwan had an answer for the Blackbirds (6-8, 2-2) as she scored on a layup with 2:13 left for a six-point contest.

Leeah Thomas made a layup with 1:55 to play as the Seahawks closed to 49-45. After each team committed a turnover, LIU looked to break Wagner’s full-court press. Once it did, Radwan got the ball and banked in a five-footer with 44 seconds left for a 51-45 margin.

Sophomore Kelli Sawyer (Philadelphia, Pa.) hit two free throws with 23 seconds to go as LIU built a 53-45 lead en route to its first two-game regular-season sweep of Wagner since 1996-97. It also was the Blackbirds third victory in their last four meetings with the Seahawks at Schwartz Center.

Senior Polona Oberc (Ljubljana, Slovenia) had 16 points and seven rebounds with Sawyer adding 13, seven and five assists for LIU. Each played 40 minutes for the fifth time this season.

LIU overcame being on the wrong end of a 38-28 rebounding margin by forcing Wagner into 20 turnovers.

Thomas poured in 12 points, Chelsey Bunyer scored nine and Joyce Queiroz added eight and 10 rebounds for the Seahawks, who shot 50 percent (12-of-24) in the second half and 43 percent (21-of-49) overall.

LIU visits Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday for a 7:00 pm tip-off.