Pictured Above: Freshman power forward Taylor Butigian and redshirt-freshman guard Jazmine Hamlet have each made a significant impact this season and are among nine players on the roster who are competing in either their first or second years of eligibility.
(Photos by Dave Saffran)

Game 23: Wagner (5-17, 4-7 NEC) at Bryant (12-10, 7-4 NEC)
Monday, Feb. 10 - 7:00 pm
Chase Athletic Center

Live Stats / Free Live Video

Game Notes

Follow the game on Twitter @WagSwagg_WBB


Smithfield, RI – The Wagner women's basketball team faces a stiff road test on this evening when the Seahawks meet Bryant in a 7:00 pm Northeast Conference (NEC) clash at the Chace Athletic Center.

After posting its biggest win in recent memory on February 3, snapping a decade-long, 17-game losing streak vs. Robert Morris with an impressive 67-51 home win, the Seahawks dropped an 82-70 decision at Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday.

The Green & White enter Monday's play in seventh-place in the 10-team NEC with a 4-7 record and with an overall mark of 5-17. Bryant is tied for third in the conference with Mount St. Mary's at 7-4, and the Bulldogs sport an overall record of 12-10. The top eight teams qualify for next month's NEC Championship, a place the Seahawks have not gone in four seasons.

These teams met back on January 6 at the Spiro Center with Bryant coming away with an 80-63 win. The Wagner-Bryant meeting marks the eighth all-time matchup between the schools and the Bulldogs have won all eight meetings. Senior guards Jenniqua Bailey and Courtney Schissler lead the way for the Bulldogs, checking in at 13.6 and 12.9 points per game, respectively. Right behind them is senior forward Naana Ankoma-Mensa with a 12.8 average, while fifth-senior guard Meredith Soper and sophomore forward Breanna Rucker average 10.8 and 10.1 points, respectively.

The 2013-2014 Seahawks feature one of the youngest teams in the entire nation with nine of the 11 players being in either their first or second seasons of eligibility. The Wagner roster is comprised of five true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, two true sophomores, one redshirt sophomore, zero juniors, and two seniors.

Freshman point guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) tossed in a game-high 26 points last time out at FDU to raise her season scoring average to 16.5, tops among all frosh in the NEC. The 5-8 four-time NEC Rookie of the Week is now up to 22.0 points per game in NEC play, which ties backcourt partner Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) for No. 2 in the league.

In addition to averaging 22.0 in conference play, Peck is scoring at 19.3 clip overall, good for No. 3 in the league. In overall statistics, the 5-6 lefthander is currently ranked No. 2 in both three-point field goals made (2.59) and three-point field goal percentage (.388) and No. 5 in free throw percentage (.831). Nwajei, meanwhile, is No. 3 overall with 4.29 assists per game No. 1 in the NEC in league play, dishing out 5.7 helpers per game.

Redshirt-sophomore center Ugo Nwaigwe (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream South) followed up her eight-point, seven-block, 24-rebound affair vs. RMU with her third double-double of the season at FDU, tallying 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The 6-3 Nwaigwe is tied for seventh in the nation at 3.38 blocks per game, according to the lastest NCAA statistics. The ever-improving post presence came up with seven more rejections against the Knights to increase her single-season school-record total to 78.

Nwagwei is No.1 in the NEC in blocked shots in overall games (3.55) and in NEC games (4.27) and No. 1 in NEC games in field goal percentage at .609. She is also up to No. 2 in the league in rebounding, grabbing 11.3 per game in NEC play.

Bryant features an extremely experienced and balanced lineup with all five starters averaging in doubles figures, a quintet that features one fifth-year senior, three seniors and a sophomore.