Philadelphia, PA - Led by junior guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), who's coming off of a school-record 45-point outing vs. Stony Brook, the Wagner women's basketball will meet the University of Pennsylvania Quakers at the famed Palestra in a 1:00 p.m. tip on Monday.On Friday night vs. Stony Brook at the Spiro Sports Center, Nwajei, the nation's No. 2 scorer a year ago at 24.8 points per game, eclipsed a Wagner record that had stood for 30 years when she eclipsed the 43-point outing delivered by Stephanie Samuels at Fairleigh Dickinson on February 18, 1986. The 5-8 New York City guard's previous career high was 40 vs. Columbia (12/30/14). The 45-point outing is also the top scoring game in all of NCAA Division I women's basketball this season.
Scene-SetterThe 2-7 Seahawks, who own 20-point plus margin victories over NJIT (76-53 on 12/2) and Lafayette (69-48 on 12/9), will be facing a Penn squad that improved to 6-2 with a 72-67 home win over cross-town rival Drexel on Saturday. The matchup with the Quakers marks the second of three contests for Wagner vs. Ivy League opponents this season. On December 6, the Seahawks dropped a 78-60 decision at Yale despite 32 points from Nwajei. Following the Penn game, the Green & White will next play at Columbia on December 30 in their final meeting vs. an Ivy League foe this season.
The Coaches Wagner is led by fourth-year head coach Lisa Cermignano, a former assistant at Illinois and Vanderbilt, who was born in Bryn Mawr, PA and raised in the Philadelphia suburb of Mantua Township, NJ. She was a prep star at Gloucester Catholic (NJ) where she scored 2,063 points in her high school career in setting the school's scoring record before moving on to a Hall of Fame playing career at George Washington, leading the Colonials to the Elite 8 of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Penn is under the direction of seventh-year head coach Mike McLaughlin, the reigning back-to-back Big 5 Coach of the Year, who has amassed a 93-89 (.511) record at the helm of the Quaker program.
Wagner All-Time vs. the Ivy League The Seahawks own an all-time record of 23-23 vs. the Ivies. Wagner has played six of the eight Ivy League teams all time, having faced Brown (0-1), Columbia (17-7), Harvard (1-2), Princeton (0-2), and Yale (0-3). The only two Ivy League teams that Wagner has never faced are Dartmouth and Pennsylvania. While Seahawks and Quakers have never met, Penn holds a 12-7 all-time record against teams from the Northeast Conference (NEC).
More Nwajei
In recording the 12th 30-point plus scoring game in her career vs. Stony Brook, Nwajei moved into eighth place on the Wagner all-time career scoring list with 1,417 points. She is 13 points shy of passing Chris Anderson (1988-1992), who totaled 1,429 points during her Hall of Fame career. Against Stony Brook, Nwajei shot 16-of-40 from the floor, including 5-of-11 marksmanship from three-point range, while going 8-of-12 from the free throw line. Equally remarkable, she committed just one turnover in the game while playing the entire 40 minutes.
Last Time Out
Wagner dropped a dropped a 73-62 decision to Stony Brook at the Spiro Sports Center on Friday night despite Nwajei's historic 45-point game. With the loss, which snapped the Seahawks' two-game home winning streak, Wagner falls to 2-7 on the season while the Seawolves, improve to 6-5. Sophomore guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) and junior guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) added six points apiece while junior forward Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) led the Seahawks in rebounding with six.Stony Brook led by a narrow 29-24 count at the break before outscoring Wagner 31-18 in the third quarter, capped by a three-point basket at the buzzer by Davion Wingate which staked the Seawolves to a comfortable 60-42 lead heading to the fourth. Senior Brittany Snow finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds and junior Christa Scognamiglio added 17 points and 13 rebounds for Stony Brook. Joining Snow and Scognamiglo in double digit rebounds was freshman Ogechi Anyagaligbo who hauled in a career-high 19 to help the Seawolves to a 59-29 advantage on the glass.
Still Short-Handed Wagner dressed just nine players vs. Stony Brook, as the Seahawks were again without the services of their second and third-leading scorers in senior guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) and fifth-year senior guard Alexis Smith (Medford, NY/St. John the Baptist/Illinois), as well as freshman guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus), each of whom are nursing injuries.
DID YOU KNOW??? *Wagner has defeated two opponents this season by 20 points or more in NJIT (76-53 on 12/2) and Lafayette (69-48 on 12/9).
*Heading into this season, the Seahawks' previous largest of margin under fourth-year head coach Lisa Cermignano was a 67-48 home win over Fairleigh Dickinson (12/17/14). *Prior to this season, the last time the Seahawks had posted two 20-plus point wins in the same year was 2002-03 when they did it three times.Follow Wagner Athletics on Facebook (facebook.com/WagnerAthletics), Twitter (@wagnerathletics), Instagram (@wagnerathletics) and YouTube (@WagnerSeahawks) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department. Follow the women's basketball team on Twitter @WagSwagg_WBB for news and updates on the women's basketball program and @CERMIGNANO for news on the fourth-year coach.
