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Peck Post-Game Interview (with Pete Mundo)

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Staten Island, NY – Sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) poured in a career-high 40 points while junior guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) tossed in a career-high 31 points, topping the 1,000-point career mark in the process, in carrying the Wagner women's basketball team to a 97-86 victory over Columbia at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
In posting their second consecutive win, which comes on the heels of a 76-70 victory over Stony Brook on December 21, Wagner improves to 2-9 on the season while the Lions fall to 4-8. Today's victory concluded Wagner's non-conference schedule as the Seahawks will embark on their 18-game Northeast Conference (NEC) slate on Saturday, January 3 when the Green & White travel to Saint Francis U for a 1:00 pm tip vs. the Red Flash.

                <>Nwajei is averaging 34.8 ppg. in last four games and 23.1 ppg. on the season

The 97 points scored by Wagner today ties for the second-highest in school history, behind the school-record 99 vs. Mercy (1/22/91) and equals the 97 tallied vs. LIU Brooklyn on January 7, 1986. The 97-point outburst also sets a Spiro Sports Center record, eclipsing the 82 points that Wagner recorded on two occasions, most recently on November 18, 2008 vs. NJIT. In addition, the 183 points that Wagner and Columbia combined for today is a Spiro Center record, bettering the 164 combined points the Seahawks and Saint Francis U combined for in an 88-76 Red Flash win on March 1, 1999 which came in an NEC Tournament game.
 
Nwajei's 40-point performance is the second-highest single-game performance in school history, just three points behind the 43 points scored by Seahawk Hall of Fame member Stephanie Samuels at  Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU) on February 18, 1986. Today's 40-point outburst by Nwajei also set a record for the most points ever scored in a game at the Spiro Center. The previous Spiro Center single-game scoring mark of 38 points was set by Quinnipiac's Ashlee Kelly (vs. FDU in NEC Tournament, 3/5/04)  and matched by Fairleigh Dickinson's Mariyah Laury in a regular season game vs. Wagner (2/7/11).
 
The 40 points scored by Nwajei today sets a Spiro Center  single-game record by a Wagner player, as the previous high game by a Seahawk player at Spiro was the 34 scored by Meredith Kerns vs. Drexel (11/28/01).
 
Nwajei shot 12-of-22 from the floor, including a 3-of-7 effort from three-point range, 13-of-15 from the line while pulling down 10 rebounds, dishing out five assists and coming up with five steals. For the 5-8 New York City guard, the 40-point, 10-rebound effort marked the seventh double-double of her career and second of the season.

Peck, entered the contest with 989 career point, 11 shy of becoming the 24th Seahawk to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Career point number 1,000 came with 8:26 left in the first half when the 5-6 lefty sank the first of two free throws, which gave Wagner a 29-22 lead en route to taking a commanding 54-36 lead at halftime. For the game, Buckeye State native connected on 8-of-18 shots, including 5-of-7 from three-point range, and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe.
                                                                                 Peck recorded 1,000 career point on this first-half free throw vs. Columbia==>

For the game, the Seahawks hit 88.6 percent from the free throw line (31-of-35). Sophomore guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) was the third Seahawk in double figures as she finished with 10 points.

Tori Oliver, an athletic 6-0 inside force, paced Columbia with a career-high 38 points, to go with nine rebounds and five assists. The sophomore made 18 of 23 free throws on the day while freshman guard Alexa Giulino and freshman forward Camille Zimmerman added 19 and 14 points, respectively, for the Lions.

Columbia made things interesting in the second half, cutting a 22-point deficit to 10 late in the half but could not complete the comeback. Trailing 72-51, Oliver started an 11-0 Columbia run to draw to within 72-62 with 8:53 left before Nwajei stemmed the tide by sinking three free throws after being fouled on a long jump-shot attempt, which moved the margin back to 13, 75-62. Giuliano cut the deficit to 10 once again with her fourth triple of the day, 86-76 at the 3:57 mark, but Seahawks sank 6-of-7 free throws in the final 1:30 in sealing the 97-86 victory. 

NOTES – Wagner set season highs today in points (97), three-pointers made (9), three-point percentage (.556, 10-of-18), free throws made (31), attempted (35) and free throw percentage (.886), while tying for season highs in assists (12) and steals (11).