The College of Staten Island women’s basketball team has had a bit of a break recently, staying idle for the last 10 days on the heels of a five-game win streak. The Dolphins will put it on the line tonight when they travel to their cross-tow, NCAA Division I rivals, the Wagner College Seahawks. Staten Island bragging rights will be on the line as the Seahawks will look to snap a skid while the Dolphins look to stay on their current roll.
CSI VS. WAGNER COLLEGE AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: CSI (8-2) vs. Wagner (1-9)
Where: Spiro Center – 1 Campus Road, Staten Island, NY
Live Video: http://necfrontrow.com/webcast.php/WC-5743/
Live Stats: https://wagnerathletics.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
Ticket Information: http://wagner.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=449&cid=40
All-Time Series: Wagner leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: November 20, 2017 – Wagner won, 63-58
Players to Watch (CSI): The Dolphins continue to be led by sophomore guard Megan McEwan, who is tallying 14.9 points per game and leads the Dolphins in categories like three-pointers (21), free-throw shooting (84.4%), assists (29) and steals (25). The rebounding lead is owned by junior Diana Todaro, who registers 8.5 per game along with an 11.9 scoring average good for second on the team. Todaro is also coming off of CUNYAC Player of the Week honors after a couple of big outings a week ago, having averaged over 13 points and 13 rebounds in the pair of wins. Freshman Kayla Schmitter will have a big role tonight on the interior, and she continues to pace the team with a field goal percentage of 50.7%. Schmitter has done most of the damage coming off of the bench and leads the way with 10 total blocked shots in 21.7 minutes per game average.
Players to Watch (WAG): The Seahawks do a majority of their damage defensively, but the scoring leader is Emilija Krista Grava, who is averaging 10.1 pointer per contest over 29.2 minutes per. She is also collecting 5.9 rebounds per game, a team high. Over half of Krista Grava’s rebounds have been on the offensive glass, so look for her to want to get a host of second-chance opportunities. Taylah Simmons has missed a pair of games for Wagner but she has been good this season, averaging 9.6 per game and a healthy 5.4 rebounds per. Khaleah Edwards is next in line averaging 8.3 points per game, and she has been good from beyond the arc, sinking 19 three’s this season, a team best. Look for Jordan Hobson to be an x-factor tonight. She owns Wagner’s best three-point shooting percentage at over 41%, and 14 of her 19 buckets have been from beyond the arc.
News & Notes: Neighbors for decades, the two teams have only been meeting over the course of the last two years and the matchups have been good ones. Two years ago, Wagner claimed a 62-60 win at the Spiro Center and last year, the Seahawks came back from seven points down to defeat CSI at The Tank, 63-58. Wagner is certainly going to try and use that momentum to overturn a current seven-game losing skid that dates back to mid-November. That skid includes three-straight losses at home to Lafayette, Yale and Army. Wagner’s lone win came against Longwood University of the Big South Conference, an 86-60 win on November 14. It marked one of only two games where Wagner was able to score over 60 points in a contest so far, as they are averaging just over 54 per game this year. CSI, meanwhile, have won five-straight after dropping two in a row in late-November. Their run includes a four-game win streak on the road, including wins in their last three games against Medgar Evers, New Rochelle, and Lancaster Bible. Like Wagner, CSI does it with defense. They are allowing just 50.7 points per game and opponents are shooting an ice-cold 30.7% from the field this season. CSI rookie coach Nicole Sarcone’s record of 8-2 is the best-ever by a first-year women’s basketball coach in CSI history, and CSI’s 8-2 start matches an identical start to last season (CSI would go on to start 13-2).
