Down the stretch of the 2014-15 season, Mitchell and Nwajei jockeyed between the top two spots in the scoring race, with Mitchell finishing a scant tenth of a point ahead of the Seahawks' sharp-shooting guard. Ohio State went on to post a 24-11 mark and received the No. 5 seed in the Greensboro Region of the NCAA Tournament where the Buckeyes advanced to the second round.
 
Through Wagner's first two games of the 2015-16 season, a 67-41 loss at ACC member Pittsburgh (11/13), followed by a 71-57 defeat at Old Dominion (11/15) of Conference USA, Nwajei is averaging 15.5 points per game. In the lid-lifter vs. the Panthers, Nwajei had an uncharacteristic cold shooting day (2-of-13). Despite finishing with just six points at Pittsburgh, Nwajei contributed nine rebounds, three steals and two assists.
 
Against Old Dominion two days later, Nwajei returned to her customary form,  tossing in a team-high 24 points, including 12 straight during a second-half Seahawk run, in addition to adding four steals, three assists and three rebounds.
 
In addition to being an uncommonly effective offensive force, the lightning-quick Nwajei gets it done on the defensive end as well, ranking No. 6 nationally with 3.28 steals per game in 2014-15.
 
Ohio State enters the Wagner game with a deceiving 1-2 record. After opening the season with an 88-80 loss at No. 2 South Carolina (11/13), despite 36 points from Mitchell, the Buckeyes played host to the top-ranked team in the land, falling to the defending champion UConn Huskies, 100-56. Mitchell scored eight points in the matchup vs. the Huskies before coming back with a 25-pojnt effort in the win over Belmont. Through three games, the prolific 5-6 guard is averaging 23.0 points per game.
 
In the opener at Pitt, a contest that was tied at 25-25 late in the first half, Wagner was led in scoring by 6-2 sophomore forward Sofia Roma (Richmond Hill, NY/Nazareth Regional), who tallied eight points, on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor while grabbing five rebounds. Newcomer Alexis Smith (Medford, NY/St. John the Baptist), a 5-9 fifth-year senior guard, tossed in seven points while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out three assists in her Seahawk debut.

Smith will be no stranger to Buckeye fans having served as a three-year guard in the University of Illinois backcourt, having scored more than 400 points for the Illini from 2011-2014. Smith was recruited to Illinois out of New York by Cermignano, who was on the Illini staff from 2009-12, and reunited with her former assistant after transferring to Wagner last summer.
 
Against Old Dominion last time out, Nwajei led the way with her 24 and was followed by fellow junior Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ/ Middletown South), who set a career high in scoring with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, eclipsing her previous career high of 10 which she recorded on January 3, 2015 at Saint Francis U. The 5-10 forward also connected on a pair of three-pointers, both from the top of the key, while pulling down seven rebounds. Smith added eight points vs. the Monarchs while the ever-improving Roma grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, seven of which came on the defensive glass. 
 
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