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GAME NOTES

Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College women's basketball team enters a brand new era tonight when the Seahawks play their first game under the direction of first-year head coach Lisa Cermignano.

The can be seen live by clicking the link above as Michael Ventola returns for his second season behind the mic as the voice of Wagner women's basketball.

The Seahawks return six players who averaged 10 or more minutes played per game last season, headed by the senior triumvirate of captains Marie-Laurence Archambault, Veronick Fournier and Chanez Robinson.

Archambault  is the team's leading returning scorer at 7.9 points, while playing 26.4 minutes per game. One of the most lethal three-point shooters in Seahawk history, The 6-0 forward enters the season ranked fourth on the Wagner all-time list in three-pointers made (168) and fifth in attempts (474). She is also within 206 points of the 1,000-point mark having scored 794 career points.

“Marie is probably one of the better shooters that I've seen in coaching. She can shoot the ball that well. We've been working on her footwork. But, you can't leave her open," Cermignano said. "We've also tried to get her to the point where she's not just a shooter but that she's a threat on the floor, getting to the rim. She just plays so hard and brings tremendous energy”

Fellow Canadian, close friend and former high school teammate, Veronick Fournier, is primed for a big senior season.  One of the top defenders in the Northeast Conference, this 5-9 guard averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 28.0 minutes of action.

“Veronick is probably our best defender. She keeps getting her hands on the ball, she took two charges in the scrimmage, two deflections. She just creates chaos. She gets everybody going defensively," Cermignano said. "And offensively, she was used to having the ball in her hands  all of the time but we have her at off guard now and she's taken to it very well. In a recent scrimmage, she hit two clutch threes down the stretch.
 
The third tri-captain is fifth-year 6-2 senior forward/center Chanez Robinson, who checked in at 4.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, including a career-high 13 at NJIT (11/19). Point guard Jacqui Thompson, a diminutive dynamo at 5-3, turned in a scrappy freshman campaign, averaging 6.1 points while dishing out a team-high 100 assists.

“Chanez had a problem with her leg early on but she's been cleared here for the last couple of weeks and she'll be starting at center for us," said Cermignano. " She's not quite at 40 minutes stamina-wise but I wouldn't trade her experience for anything. She's got such a feel for the basket on the block and she's tough. She's strong.”
 
Rounding out the projected starting lineup is versatile 6-2 forward Stephanie Blais, who offered glimpses of her potential last year by scoring double-digits in three NEC games, including a career-high 14 vs. Quinnipiac. Cermignano is also excited about the prospects of 5-11 junior forward Laura Amorosa and 6-3 sophomore center Ugo Nwaigwe.

Wagner welcomes a cast of five newcomers, including powerful 5-11 forward and redshirt freshman #Ebony Jennings." The four-member freshmen class includes high-scoring left-handed 5-6 freshman guard Jordyn Peck, rugged 6-4 center Emily Adams, smooth 5-8 guard Tessa Wade and tenacious 5-7 point guard Jazmine Hamlet.

Wagner went 2-17 last season, 1-17 in the Northeast Conference.

“We've emphasized conditioning since we got here. It was hard early on because we were so banged up by last season," said Cermignano. "There were days when we only had seven girls available. But they pushed through it. The girls responded great. They work extremely hard and at the pace we're going, you're only going to get in better shape as you go along. So, they've really bought in and their stamina has increased just because of how hard we work.”
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