Photo Above: Sophomore forward Jackie Dluhi (by Dave Saffran)

Game Notes: Wagner I Vermont

Watch: (Free)
Listen: (Free)

Live Stats

Burlington,  VT - The Wagner women's basketball team will trek 364 miles due North to meet the University of Vermont Catamounts at 3:30 pm today in the second game of a doubleheader following the 1:00 pm contest between the Wagner and Vermont  men's teams.
 
ABOUT THE WAGNER SEAHAWKS
Playing against a non-conference schedule that has included VCU of the Atlantic 10, No. 8 Maryland of the ACC, No. 21 Rutgers of the Big 10, another Big 10 school in Penn State and St. John's of the Big East, the Seahawks are off to an 0-7 start. Sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), the 2014 NEC Rookie of the Year, leads the Seahawks in scoring at 16.4 points while dishing out a team-best 4.0 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 954 career points, is just 46 away from becoming the 24th Seahawk in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. The 5-6 Peck, who is coming off of a 27-point game at Penn State (12/7), also averages in double figures at 13.6 points per game. Sophomore guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) checks in at 6.6 points per game and is shooting a team-best 50 percent (12-of-24) from three-point range. Sophomore Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY/Christ the King) had a season-high 10-point effort last time out at Penn State. Last week's game at Penn State also featured the season debut of redshirt-sophomore guard Jazmine Hamlet (New York, NY/Francis Lewis). Regarded as Wagner's top on-the-ball defender, the 5-7 Hamlet energized the Seahawk lineup with a team-high seven rebounds, along with two points in a spirited 19-minute stint vs. the Lady Lions. The Vermont game marks the third time Wagner will play without 6-3 senior center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream,, NY/Valley Stream South), who left the Seahawk program prior to the December 2 contest at NJIT. 
 
PLAYING TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE IS THE CERMIGNANO WAY
Wagner opened the 2014-15 season with a two-game road swing, beginning with a matchup at VCU of the Atlantic 10 (11/14) followed by a contest at No. 8 Maryland (11/16). The Seahawks' home opener was against No. 21 Rutgers (L 81-53). Led by Hall of Fame head coach C. Vivian Stringer, the 2014 WNIT Champions and the first Big 10 opponent to ever play at the Spiro Sports Center. The demanding non-conference schedule continued with a Nov. 30 game at Big East member St. John's (L 71-49).
 
Third-year head coach Lisa Cermignano believes that last season's tough non-conference schedule helped prepare her team for NEC play and was a big reason for the Seahawks' six-game league improvement. After playing a non-league schedule that included heavyweights Kentucky, Rutgers, VCU and Pittsburgh, the Green & White went 8-10 in the NEC and qualified for the league tournament for the first time since 2010.
 
ABOUT THE VERMONT CATAMOUNTS
The Catamounts, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Lori Gear-McBride, who played on North Carolina's 1994 national championship team, is 1-7 on the season. Gear-McBride, who was also an assistant at Seton Hall and head coach at Colby College (ME) prior to her appointment at Vermont, guided the Catamounts to an 80-70 win at Wagner on November 26, 2013. Vermont posted its first win of the season last time, a 68-63 home victory over Dartmouth (12/7), a squad that entered the game with a record of 5-1. Freshman guard Syndney Smith paced the Catamounts with 23 points, fifth-year senior forward Emily Cloutier added 14 while sophomore guard Kylie Butler and senior forward Kayla Buchill added 10 points apiece. Smith leads Vermont in scoring at 12.1 points per game while Butler checks in at 10.5. Senior Niki Taylor, a rugged 6-0 forward, is the Catamounts' top rebounder at 8.1 per game and is the team's third-leading scorer at 9.4.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
This marks the third all-time meeting between the Seahawks and Catamounts and the series is tied 1-1. Wagner defeated Vermont 68-40 in the first round of the Blue Sky Classic, held at Dartmouth University on Dec. 29, 2010 prior to last season's 80-70 win on Staten Island.

SEAHAWKS 4TH IN NEC PRESEASON POLL, NWAJI NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-NEC TEAM
Brooklyn, NY (Oct. 21)– The Wagner women's basketball team, last season's most-improved Northeast Conference (NEC) squad, was picked fourth in the 2014-2015 Preseason Poll while sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) was named to the Preseason All-NEC Team, in a vote of the league's head coaches and announced today at NEC Social Media Day held at the Barclays Center. Defending champion Robert Morris was picked first, garnering five of the 10 first-place votes. Sacred Heart was chosen second, with four first-place votes, St.  Francis Brooklyn was third, with Wagner fourth and Saint Francis U rounding out the top five. Bryant was picked to finish sixth, Mount St. Mary's seventh, LIU Brooklyn checked in at eighth place with Central Connecticut and Fairleigh Dickinson finishing in a tie for ninth place.
 
 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

2014-15 Preseason All-NEC Women's Basketball
Senior         Jenniqua Bailey - Bryant
Senior        Alexa Hayward - Saint Francis U
Soph.        Jasmine Nwajei - Wagner
Senior        Eilidh Simpson - St. Francis Brooklyn
Senior        Gabrielle Washington - Sacred Heart

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @Wag_Swagg for news and updates on the women's basketball program.