BROOKLYN, N.Y. - LIU Brooklyn women's basketball guard Shanovia Dove picked an excellent afternoon to set a new career-high in points, as the sophomore led the Blackbirds with 26 points in a crucial Northeast Conference win over Wagner Saturday afternoon, 75-47 in the Steinberg Wellness Center. With the win, LIU improves to 5-10 in NEC play, moving into seventh place in the conference standings.

Prior to the game, the Blackbirds honored two seniors, Ashley Brown and Letava Whippy, who were playing in one of their final games in the Steinberg Wellness Center.

LIU Brooklyn led from the start, when sophomore Shanovia Dove opened scoring with a layup at 19:40. Though Wagner would tie it up twice over the next minute and a half of play, a three-pointer by Dove gave the Blackbirds the lead for good, 7-4, with 17:53 to play in the first half.

The Blackbirds extended the lead to seven points twice early going, including at 9:14, when junior Jolanna Ford mad a layup to put LIU up, 18-11.

Wagner's Jasmine Nwajei, the leading scorer in NCAA Division I women's basketball, made a solo run at that point, scoring three straight layups over a minute of play to cut LIU's lead to just 18-17. But the Blackbird defense locked down, and that layup would be the last field goal Wagner would score for over eight minutes of play. Over the next four and a half minutes, the Blackbirds went on a 16-1 run. LIU forced nine Wagner turnovers in that span, and had seven steals, widening the lead to 34-18 with just over two minutes left in the half. Ford drained three free throws in the final minute of play to give LIU a 37-20 lead at the break.

The pressure from the Blackbirds continued into the second half, as Dove drained a three at 19:27 to spark a 12-4 run by LIU. A layup by freshman Stylz Sanders five minutes later capped the run, putting LIU up, 49-24 at 15:14. The Seahawks started to score at that point, and closed the gap to 60-41 at 7:03, but LIU kept the pressure on, and would eventual go up, 75-45 with 47 seconds left. A late basket from Wagner put the final score at 75-47, and LIU improved to 8-18 overall, 5-10 in NEC play. Wagner falls to 6-20 overall, 4-11 in the league.

Up next, the Blackbirds hit the road to take on Mount St. Mary's, Monday, February 23 at 7 p.m.

BLACKBIRD BITS
• LIU sophomore Shanovia Dove had a career-high 26 points in the win, shooting 67 percent from the field (9-for-13). She also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Junior Jolanna Ford chipped in 13 points, two blocks, and a team-high eight rebounds.
• Junior Sophie Bhasin and freshman Drew Winter added eight points each, while junior Shanice Vaughan had five rebounds, four steals and four assists.
• The Blackbirds forced 29 turnovers in the game, scoring 26 points off those turnovers. LIU also  snagged 16 steals.
• Jasmine Nwajei, who came into the contest leading the nation in scoring, with 25.2 points per game, was held to just 15 points by the Blackbirds. She finished with a game-high five steals.