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Pictured Above: Jordyn Peck dribbles past Rutgers' Syessance Davis. Inset: Seahawk head coach Lisa Cermignano with Rutgers Hall of Fame Coach C. Vivian Stringer prior to tip-off.

Cermignano and Stringer have a common coaching thread in Jolette Law. From 1996-2007, Law served as an assistant under Stringer at Rutgers before assuming the head coaching position at Illinois. In the three seasons prior to accepting the Wagner head job, Cermignano was an assistant under Law at Illinois. A star guard who played for Stringer at Iowa, Law led the Hawkeyes to four Big 10 titles from 1986-1990. She is currently in her second season as an assistant coach at Tennessee.

PHOTO GALLERY

Piscataway, NJ – The explosive and athletic Rutgers Scarlet Knights sank 11 of their  first 17 shots from the field in opening an early 22-6 lead, built the margin to 47-19 at halftime, and went on to place five players in double figures en route to an 83-53 victory over Wagner at the RAC.

Seahawk sophomore sensation Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) continued her hot hand with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting and a perfect 8-of-8 effort from the free throw line. The crafty, lefty-shooting guard is now averaging 18.4 points per game after entering the game ranked No. 6 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) at 17.6.

Redshirt sophomore center Ugo Nwaige (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream South) added eight points for the Seahawks, freshman guard Maria Conyers-Jordan (Philadelphia, PA/Friends' Academy) chipped in with six while freshman point guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) and freshman forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY/Christ the King) finished with four points apiece.

With the victory, Rutgers improves to 7-2 on the season while the Seahawks fall to 1-7.

The Scarlet Knights were paced by Betnijah Laney's 20-point outing with Kahleah Cooper adding 15. Also scoring in double figures for the Scarlet Knights were Rachel Hollivay and Tyler Scaife, who tallied 14 points apiece, while Bryona Canty chipped in with 11.

Rutgers shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor in running out to the 26-point halftime advantage and wound up at 48.6% for the game while holding a 42-35 edge on the boards. Wagner finished at 36% shooting for the game. The Seahawks shot a 47.2% clip (17-of-36) from two-point range on the evening but were undone by their cold perimeter shooting, as the Green & White hit just 3-of-19 (15.8%) from beyond the arc.

The Scarlet Knights owned a 52-26 edge in points in the paint, held a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers and outscored Wagner 28-0 in fastbreak points while Seahawk bench managed to hold a 20-16 edge in scoring.

Tonight's game marked the first of four consecutive contests away from home for Wagner. The Seahawks are next in action when they take part in the Seawolves Holiday Classic at Stony Brook University next weekend. On Saturday, December 21, Wagner will meet Eastern Michigan in the first round in a Noon tip, a game that will prelude the 2:00 pm Stony Brook-Monmouth contest. Wagner will then square off against host Stony Brook on Sunday, December 22 in a 2:00 pm tilt, in a game which will follow the Noon matchup between Eastern Michigan and Monmouth.

Rutgers is the fifth foe that Wagner has faced which hails from a "power conference." Included among the eight opponents that the Seahawks have met in the young season are No. 7 Kentucky of the SEC, Seton Hall from the Big East, the Atlantic 10's VCU Rams, as well as ACC member Pittsburgh.

Peck's 24-point outing marked the fourth time this season that she has annexed the 20-point plateau. The 53 points generated by Wagner are a season low.