Above: Redshirt freshman Jazmine Hamlet, a 5-7 guard from Manhattan, has hit for a career-high 10 points in each of Wagner's last two games - vs. Stony Brook (12/22) and NJIT (12/20). (Photo by Dave Saffran)

Game 12: LIU Brooklyn (2-9) at Wagner (1-10)
Saturday,  Jan. 4- 3:00 pm
Spiro Sports Center– Staten Island, NY

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Staten Island, NY - The Wagner women's basketball team will host longtime rival LIU Brooklyn in the 2013-2014 NEC season opener for both teams on Saturday, January 4 in a 3:00 pm tip-off at the Spiro Sports Center.

Wagner enters the meeting with a 1-10 record, having played the 15th-toughest schedule in the nation according to rpiratrings.com, a non-conference slate that included five "power conference" schools, including No. 7 Kentucky of the SEC, Seton Hall from the Big East, the Atlantic 10's VCU Rams, ACC member Pittsburgh, as well as Rutgers of the American Athletic Conference. This high strength of schedule is a major reason why the Seahawks' RPI is 208 out of 347 Division I teams.

The Seahawk-Blackbird meeting marks the 75th all-time matchup between the schools in a series that Wagner leads, 41-33. Last season, these teams split their two meetings with each team gaining a win on the other's home floor. On January 14, 2013, Wagner earned a 74-70 victory in Brooklyn. Some five weeks later, on February 23, 2013, the Blackbirds turned the tables on the Seahawks, posting a 61-41 win at the Spiro Center.

Last time out, on December 30, Wagner dropped a hard-fought 58-52 decision to the NJIT in Newark while the Seahawks' lone win came at Monmouth, a 70-57 victory on Nov. 14. LIU Brooklyn was outscored by NJIT, 80-56 in a November 20 home contest and earned a 67-52 road win over Monmouth on December 14.

Wagner is led by its dynamic backcourt duo of high-scoring sophomore Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) and playmaking freshman Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum). Peck enters the LIU Brooklyn tilt ranked as the NEC's fourth-ranked scorer at 16.5 points per game and ranks third in the conference in three-point field goals made at 2.45 per game. Peck is also among the NEC leaders in free throw percentage (.789-7th), three-point field goal percentage (.370-15th), and minutes played (33.73-6th).
 
Nwajei is second on the Seahawks in scoring at 11.5 points per outing and is the team-leader with 3.0 assists per game. Wagner is led in the low post by redshirt sophomore Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream South). The 6-3 center is the NEC's leading shot-blocker at 2.82 blocks per game and is the Seahawks' leading rebounder at 6.7 caroms per game, to go with a 5.4 points per game average.

LIU Brooklyn brings a 2-9 mark into Saturday's action and the Blackbirds are coming off of a 78-72 victory at Northern Arizona on December 30. Senior Cleandra Roberts, a 6-0 forward, is one of the top talents in the NEC and enters the Wagner game averaging 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds, figures that rank third and fourth, respectively, in the NEC.

Sophomore guard Sophie Bason is also averaging in double figures for the Blackbirds, as the 5-7 sophomore checks in at 10.1 points to go with 4.0 rebounds per game. Bason's season average was bolstered by a career-high 26-point outing in the win over Northern Arizona.

The 78 points posted by the Blackbirds in the victory over Northern Arizona marked the highest point total for LIU this season, as the Blackbirds shot 47.4 percent from the field, including a 51.7 percent total in the second half.

Wagner and LIU Brooklyn have faced two common opponents this season in NJIT and Monmouth and the teams are 1-1 vs. these common foes with each owning a loss to the Highlanders and a win over the Hawks.

New Lineup Unveiled Last Time Out
Wagner second-year head coach Lisa Cermignano shook up her starting lineup last time out vs. NJIT (12/30), going with a youthful, guard-oriented combination consisting of sophomore Tessa Wade (Penn Valley, PA/Lower Merion) and redshirt freshman Jazmine Hamlet (Manhattan, NY/Francis Lewis), along with true freshmen Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney), Maria Conyers-Jordan (Philadelphia, PA/ Friends' Central) and Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South). At 5-11, Dluhi was the tallest among the Seahawk starters. Through the first six games of the season, Wagner went with the same starting lineup, comprised of senior forward and co-captain Laura Amorosa (Kirkland, Quebec/Phillips Academy), Nwaigwe, Nwajei, Rowe and Peck. Following those games, Freshman post Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY/Christ the King), who didn't dress tonight due to illness, gained the start over Nwaigwe in Wagner's next two games. Hamlet has now started the last three games while Dluhi and Conyers-Jordan have started the last two. For Wade, who played a career-long 19 minutes, tonight's start was the first of her career
 
New-Look Lineup Produced Fast Start
Despite the youth and relative lack of size, this starting lineup brought tremendous energy and effort to the floor, as Wagner galloped out to an early 8-2 lead. At the 12:38 mark of the first half and the Seahawks on top by an 11-5 margin following a Rowe three-pointer, the Seahawks' high-scoring backcourt combination of sophomore shooter Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) and freshman dynamo Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) were inserted into the lineup.
 
Pencil Her In
Freshman Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) a left-handed, 5-8 guard, is the only Seahawk to start all 11 games. The rock-solid Rowe is third on the team at 8.0 points per game, is averaging 2.5 rebounds while shooting at a .737 and .338 clip from the free throw line and from three-point range, respectively. She also averages a team-high 34.7 minutes per game.
 
Hamlet Has Hit For Career High In Last Two Games
Redshirt freshman guard Jazmine Hamlet (Manhattan, NY/Francis Lewis) tallied a career-high 10 points in Wagner's 70-51 loss to Stony Brook in the second round of the Seawolves Holiday Classic on December 22. The active 5-7 guard then matched that career high with another 10-point outing in Wagner's next game, a hard-fought 58-52 loss at NJIT on December 30.
 
Nwajei's Seawolves Classic Production
Freshman guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) averaged 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds on Dec. 21-22 in the Seawolves Holiday Classic vs. Eastern Michigan and Stony Brook contested on the Stony Brook campus Dec. 21-22. In Wagner's 69-56 loss to Eastern Michigan, the 5-8 Nwajei recorded her first double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Prior to her hustling 11-rebound effort vs. the Eagles, Nwajei's previous high came in the Seahawks' 70-57 win at Monmouth (11/14) when she corralled six boards. Nwajei then tallied a team-high 11 points the following afternoon vs. a Stony Brook team that now boasts an 8-3 record. Against the Seawolves, Nwajei added three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and a block.