Box Score Box Score (PDF) I Box Score (HTML)
Press Conference With Head Coach Lisa Cermignano
Pete Mundo Talks With Dluhi After Seahawks Win Over NJIT
Staten Island, NY – Junior guard
Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), the nation's No. 2 scorer a year ago, recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and junior forward
Jackie Dluhi tossed in a career-high 17 points to carry the Wagner women's basketball team to its first win of the season, by a convincing 76-53 count over NJIT.
Wagner fired a season-high 47% (15-of-32) from three-point range with Dluhi leading the way with 5-of-7 marksmanship from beyond the arc. The five made three-pointers are a career high for the Jersey Shore native who entered the season with just two made three-pointers in her career. The 5-11 Dluhi entered the game with six made three-pointers and tonight, was a perfect 3-of-3 in the first quarter alone.
The victory, which came after opening season-losses to major conference foes Pittsburgh, Old Dominion, No. 7 Ohio State and Mississippi State, improves the Seahawks' record to 1-4 on the young season while the Highlanders fall to 2-4.
Fifth-year senior guard
Alexis Smith (Medford, NY/St. John the Baptist), a first-year Seahawk and a transfer from the University of Illinois, registered a season-high 16 points, while junior forward Taylor Butigian (Rockaway Park, NY/Christ the King) came off the bench to hit for a season-high 11 as Wagner placed four players in double figures. Smith, a 5-9 guard who scored more than 400 points in her three-year career in the Big 10 at Illinois, was 6-of-14 from the floor, highlighted by 4-of-8 shooting from deep.
Butigian was 4-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Leah Horton paced NJIT with 16 while Ronni Grandison and Kelly Guarino chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Seahawks, who distributed a season-high 24 assists with just 13 turnovers, outshot the Highlanders, 46%-36%, and held the advantage in points in the paint (14-8), points off turnovers (18-11), second-chance points (14-6) and fast-break points (6-0). NJIT, meanwhile, held a slight 34-31 edge in the rebounding department.
Wagner is next in action on Sunday, December 6 when the Seahawks travel to New Haven, CT to meet the Yale University Bulldogs of the Ivy League in a 2:00 p.m. tip-off.
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.
