STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team led Northeast Conference foe Wagner by as many as 17 points Saturday afternoon in the Spiro Sports Center, but the Blackbirds could not stop a surging Seahawks squad, as Wagner beat LIU, 72-69. Junior Sophie Bhasin, who had set a career-high in points Monday, surpassed her own mark, scoring 35 points in the loss.

Wagner's Jasmine Nwajei also had a big game, scoring 37 points to lead the home team, 23 of which game in the second half to lead the Seahawks' effort.  

The game started on a slow note, as neither team would make a field goal for the first four minutes of the game. Once the scoring began, it was back and forth, and neither team would lead by more than three points until just under the six minute mark.  Freshman Drew Winter drained a jumper to give the Blackbirds a 23-19 lead at that point, but Wagner answered with back-to-back layups, and the score would be tied for the sixth time in the half, 23-23 with 4:59 to play.

LIU retook the lead with two minutes to play on a scoring spree by junior Sophie Bhasin. After making two free throws, Bhasin had a put-back layup, and converted the three point play. The next time down the court, Bhasin drew the foul and made both her free throws. She added a last-second layup as the clock ran down the half, completing a solo 9-2 run and giving LIU a 37-29 lead at halftime.

Bhasin had 19 points in the first half, shooting 75% from the field, including 2-2 from downtown and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line

The junior continued her scoring streak into the second half, adding a quick layup to start off the stanza by widening LIU's lead to 39-31. Two minutes later, Bhasin had a three in the corner, followed by a layup and another three pointer, scoring eight points in a 13-0 run by the Blackbirds that would widen LIU's lead to 52-35 with 14:18 to play.

LIU continued to hold on to the lead until the nine minute mark, when Nwajei went to work for Wagner. Over the next eight minutes, the Seahawks outscored LIU, 23-5, including 15 points from Nwajei. The guard would drain a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:30 on the clock to give Wagner its' first lead of the second half, 66-64.

With just over a minute left to play, Bhasin would make two big free throws to tie the game back up at 66-66,  but on the next time down the court, Nwajei drained a three with a hand in her face, giving the Seahawks a 69-66 lead with 45 seconds on the clock. Wagner snagged a steal on LIU's next possession, and drawing the foul, the Seahawks would make one free throw to give the home team a two-possession lead, 70-66 at the 17 second mark.

Bhasin had a late effort to help her team stay in the game, drawing a foul in three-point territory with just nine seconds on the clock. She made all three free throws to cut the lead to just one point, 70-69, but Wagner's Jordyn Peck hit two free throws of her own to widen the gap back up to 72-69 with seven seconds left. The Blackbirds could not get a final shot off, and Wagner would take the win to improve to 2-1 in the NEC.

Up next, the Blackbirds host Sacred Heart, Monday, January 12 at 7 p.m.
 
BLACKBIRDS BITS
• With the loss, LIU is 4-10 overall, 1-2 in the NEC
• Nwajei shot 50% from the field to lead all players with 37 points, including going 4-for-6 from behind the arc. She also had a game-high six steals.  
• Bhasin shot 66.7% from the field, 66.7% from behind the arc, and 92 percent from the free throw line (11-12), finishing with 35 points, five rebounds and four steals.
• Freshman Drew Winter had 8 points in the loss, while senior Letava Whippy had nine rebounds and five points. Junior Jolanna Ford added seven rebounds and seven points for LIU.  
• Wagner shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half.