Photo by Dave Saffran

2014-2015 Media Guide I 2014-2015 Season Preview Story/Video Highlights
 
Staten Island Advance Preview (11/13/14) - by Jim Waggoner I NEC Social Media Day Video

Staten Island Ferry - "Going Places" - photo gallery by Dave Saffran I  Media Day - photo gallery by Dave Saffran

Wagner Game Notes I Monmouth Game Notes
 
Watch:
necfrontrow.com (Play-by-Play: Pete Mundo)

Live Stats

Staten Island, NY - The Wagner women's basketball team swings back into action on Friday, November 29 when the Seahawks host former NEC rival Monmouth at the Spiro Center in a 7:00 p.m. tip tonight.
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ABOUT THE WAGNER SEAHAWKS
Sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), the 2014 NEC Rookie of the Year, leads the Seahawks in scoring at 17.7 points while dishing out a team-best 3.7 assists per game. In the season opener at VCU on November 14, the 5-8 New York City guard poured in a career-high 32 points. Junior guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights), with 898 career points, is  just 102 away from becoming the 24th Seahawk in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. The 5-6 Peck also averages in double figures at 13.0 points per game. In the low post, 6-2 freshman Sofia Roma (Richmond Hill, NY/Nazareth) is averaging a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game off the bench. Redshirt-junior center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, Valley Stream South), who at 6-3, used her her 75" wingspan to rank No. 4 nationally in blocked shots per game last season,  is close behind at 6.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) checks in at 8.3 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER
After getting out to a fast start and an early 18-14 lead on Tuesday night vs. No. 21 Rutgers, the Seahawks fell behind 50-37 at the half and ended up on the short end of an 81-53 decision to the defending WNIT Champions. Nwajei got the crowd of 1,608 fans on its feet 16 seconds into the game when she drained a long three-pointer. The teams traded baskets over the next five-plus minutes, and when a Peck three-ball found the bottom of the net with 10:16 left in the half, the Seahawks were on top by a count of 18-14. Rutgers then responded with an 8-0 run en route to the 50-37 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half for the win.

LAST TIME OUT FOR MONMOUTH
The Hawks are coming off a 71-66 home victory over another former NEC rival Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday. Helena Kurt established career highs with 15 points and eight assists, while Sarah Olson added a team-high 16 points. Jenny Horvatinovic also finished in double figures with 12 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sara English provided punch as well, with seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MONMOUTH
Monmouth holds a 40-24 edge in the all-time series and the Hawks have won 17 of the last 20 contests played between the teams. Last season, the Seahawks earned a 70-57 victory in West Long Branch, NJ.

UP NEXT
On Sunday, November 30, Wagner makes the short trek to Jamainca, Queens to play St. John's of the Big East, in a 2:00 pm tip in a contest that can be seen live on ESPN 3.com.

THUMBNAIL SKETCH OF 2014-015 SEAHAWKS
Under the direction of third-year head coach Lisa Cermignano,  Wagner looks to build on the momentum generated a year ago when the Seahawks opened eyes by earning the program's first Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament berth since 2010 and the most league wins since 2004. Wagner returns all five starters and nine letterwinners from a squad that finished seventh in the NEC with an 8-10 league mark. Playing a non-conference schedule that included heavyweights Kentucky, Rutgers, VCU and Pittsburgh, the Green & White were 9-21 overall. Despite the return of a host of well-honored players, as Cermignano stressed, the 2014-2015 roster is a young one, with just three upperclassmen - one senior and two juniors – along with six sophomores and three freshmen.
 
CERMIGNANO SAYS
"Coming into this season, there's just a ton of excitement, coming off of last season and having so many returners back, there should be only excitement," said Cermignano. "We do have a lot of youth on this team, we are very young. Yet, we have some talented players who last season had a taste of success and we're looking to build on that this year. With youth, every year they just get more excited, more confident and more experienced. "

SEAHAWKS PICKED FOURTH IN 2014-2015 NEC PRESEASON POLL
At last month's NEC Social Media Day held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, the Seahawks were picked fourth in the 2014-2015 NEC Preseason Poll
 
2014-2015 NEC Preseason Poll
1. Robert Morris (5)
2. Sacred Heart (4)
3. St. Francis Brooklyn (1)
4. Wagner
5. Saint Francis U
6. Bryant
7. Mount St. Mary's
8. LIU Brooklyn
9. (tie) Central Connecticut
    Fairleigh Dickinson

SOPHOMORE GUARD JASMINE NWAJEI '13-14 NEC ROOKIE OF YEAR, '14-15 ALL-NEC PRESEASON TEAM
The NEC's most improved team by every measure a year ago, this year's edition is armed with a 12-person roster led by dynamic 5-8 sophomore point guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), who was named the 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Year, while earning All-NEC Second-Team honors. The lightning-quick Nwajei poured in a career-high 29 points against Fairleigh Dickinson (2/17/14), and reached the 20-point plateau 12 times, while also leading the NEC in assists per game (5.5) in conference games. Individually, Nwajei was named to the 2014-15 All-NEC Preseason Team and has the distinction of being the lone underclassmen named to the 2014-2015 NEC Preseason Team, along with four seniors.
 
2014-15 Preseason All-NEC Women's Basketball
Jenniqua Bailey - Bryant
Alexa Hayward - Saint Francis U
Jasmine Nwajei - Wagner
Eilidh Simpson - St. Francis Brooklyn
Gabrielle Washington - Sacred Heart
 
JUNIOR GUARD JORDYN PECK IS NEC'S LEADING RETURNING SCORER
Junior guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/ Shaker Heights), combines with Nwajei, to form one of the nation's top scoring backcourt tandems. The crafty, 5-6 left-handed Peck tossed in 21.1 points per game in league play last season, which makes her the leading returning scorer in the league, and tallied a career-high 30 points vs. Central Connecticut (1/11/14) and tallied 20 or more points on 17 different occasions.
 
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