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Staten Island, NY – The Wagner women's basketball jumped out to an early 18-5 lead but Saint Francis U, the Northeast Conference's (NEC) top scoring team, managed to whittle the deficit to 37-35 at halftime before going on a decisive 13-0 early second-half run, en route to posting a 92-78 victory.
 
The Red Flash, who entered the day averaging 81.4 points per game, more than nine points more than Bryant, the next-closest team in the league (72.2), improve to 6-3 in the NEC with the win, and 8-12 overall. The Seahawks are now 3-6 in league play, and have a season mark of 4-16.

This afternoon's contest featured the NEC's No. 1 scorer, in SFU's 6-0 senior forward Alli Williams, and the league's third-highest scorer in Seahawk sophomore guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights). This high-scoring pair entered today's play averaging 25.4 and 21.6 points, respectively, in conference play.
 
When the dust settled on this frenetic, fast-paced game, Williams had 34 points, buoyed by a 19-of-25 effort from the free throw line, while Peck finished with 27, thanks in large part to a 4-for-10 outing from three-point range. Freshman point guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) added 21 points for the Seahawks on 6-of-14 shooting, which included a 3-of-7 effort from beyond the arc. For Nwaigwe, the trio of made three-pointers marked a career high. The three-time NEC Rookie of the Week added six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
 
Redshirt sophomore center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream South) also made her presence felt in a big way as the 6-3 center tallied eight points, while pulling down a career-high 15 rebounds. Nwaigwe bettered her previous career high of 14 boards, which she grabbed on January 25 at Sacred Heart, and has now hauled down 12 or more rebounds in four of her last five games, averaging 12.4 caroms per game during this stretch.
 
Entering the game ranked No. 1 in the NEC and 11^th nationally in blocked shots per game (3.05), Nwaigwe swatted away six shots vs. the Red Flash.
 
Unflappable lefty-shooting freshman guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) turned in another solid effort with eight points, two rebounds and an assist. Senior forward Laura Amorosa (Kirkland, Quebec/Phillips Academy) chipped in with seven points, on 3-of-3 shooting, in addition to coming up with two rebounds and a block in an efficient 20-minute stint off the bench. Freshman forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY/Christ the King) also provided a spark off the bench with six points, two rebounds, two blocks and two assists in a productive 21-minute performance.
 
The Seahawks welcomed freshman Maria Conyers-Jordan (Philadelphia, PA/Friends' Central) back to the lineup after an eight-game absence which was due to a knee injury suffered in practice a month ago. Seeing her first action since recording a nine-point, seven-rebound night at NJIT back on Dec. 30, the athletic, 5-9 wing played 13 minutes, which were valuable in such a fast-paced game, and contributed one point, two rebounds and an assist.
 
Wagner had little difficulty slicing through SFU's vaunted full-court pressure at the game's outset in jumping out to leads of 8-0, 14-3 and 18-5. Nwajei scored six points in the Seahawks' game-opening 8-0 dash, on a jump shot that was sandwiched between a pair of fast-break layups. After Rebecca Keegan put the Red Flash on the board with a three-pointer at the 17:20 mark, the Green & White countered with consecutive three-point jumpers from Peck, pushing the lead to 14-3 at the 15:44 mark.
 
After SFU's Bridget Murphy hit a layup, Rowe and Nwaigwe then got into the act, converting layups that pushed the lead to 18-5 at the 13:31 mark of the opening half. A pair of free throws by Butigian gave Wagner its second 13-point lead of the half, this one 22-9 with 10:45 remaining.
 
A Williams three-pointer off a feed from Alexa Hayward at 9:14 jump-started a 19-7 SFU surge over a span of 5:49, capped by a Shaqeia Stokes layup at the 3:25 mark that drew the Red Flash to within a single point at 29-28. Amorosa answered with a layup to make it 31-28 which helped Wagner enter halftime with the 37-35 lead.
 
After Nwajei found Nwaigwe inside for a layup to open the second half scoring and make it a 39-35 lead, SFU socked Wagner with a game-changing, lightning-quick 13-0 run over the next 2:41 in jumping out to a 48-39 lead with 16:53 left. During the run, the Seahawks turned the ball over four times and missed their only field goal attempt while the Red Flash went 5-of-6 from the field. Murphy started the run with a three-pointer at 18:55 to make it 39-38, and capped the surge with another trey at 16:53 that made it 48-39. In between, Williams shook loose for five points on a pair of buckets and a free throw.
 
The feisty Seahawks never went away and when Peck drained a pair of free throws with 7:46 left, Wagner was to within two points at 65-63 but this is as close the Green & White would get as Hayward sank a big three-pointer off a Murphy assist at 7:36 to increase the cushion to 68-63, eventually building the lead to 76-66 on a pair of Williams free throws at 4:19. The Red Flash then went on an 11-4 spurt in building its biggest lead of the game at 87-70 on another Williams free throw with 1:47 left.
 
Wagner held a 42%-38% edge in shooting but the Red Flash held a sizeable 55-39 advantage on the glass.  Wagner was 10-of-28 (36%) from beyond the arc with the 10 treys marking a season high. Wagner committed 18 turnovers in the face of SFU's aggressive, trapping defense, but the Seahawks were credited with 16 assists on 27 made field goal. The 16 helpers are the second-most dished out by Wagner this season, bettered only by the 17 vs. Sacred Heart (1/13).

The Seahawks were whistled for 29 fouls which Saint Francis U parlayed into a 29-of-40 (73%) shooting day from the charity stripe. The Red Flash committed 24 fouls which helped Wagner get to the free throw line 27 times, but the Seahawks made just 14, good for a 52% clip.

The 92 points allowed today is the second-highest output scored on Wagner this season, and the mpst given up in NEC play. The only team to score more points vs. the Seahawks this season was then No. 7 Kentucky, which posted a 96-57 win in the season opener back on Nov. 10.
 
The Green & White jump right back into NEC action on Monday, February 3 by hosting Robert Morris in a 7:00 pm matchup.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagSwagg_WBB for news and updates on the women's basketball program and @CERMIGNANO for news on the second-year coach