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Game Notes: Wagner I RMU

Moon Township, PA – Led by the nation's No. 1 scorer in sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), who checks in at 24.6 points per game, the Wagner women's basketball team concludes the 2014-2015 season with a 7:00 p.m. contest tonight at Robert Morris in a game that will be seen live on ESPN3.
 
Handling the play-by-play duties will be veteran Northeast Conference (NEC) announcer John Schmeelk while color analysis will be provided by Sylvia Walker, former University of North Carolina All-American, Boston College head coach and WNBA assistant coach (Indiana Fever).

Last Time Out for Wagner
On Saturday in Emmitsburg, MD,  Jasmine Nwajei poured in 29 points but the Seahawks were edged 68-65 at Mount St. Mary's in a hotly-contested battle that featured seven lead changes and six ties.  With the loss, the Green & White fall to 4-13 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and are eliminated from the conference tournament, and are 6-22 overall. With the victory, the Mountaineers secure one of the eight berths in the league tournament, improving to 6-11 in conference and 8-20 overall. Junior guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) finished with 12 points while freshman guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) continued to be a spark off the bench, tossing in 12 on 4-of-7 shooting. Jenn Carney led three Mount players in double figures with 23 points, while Sarifina Arthur-Williams and Jacqueline Brewer added 16 and 14 points, respectively. Arthur-Williams, a 6-0 center, also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in recording a double-double.This was the second close, down-to-the-wire, contest that these teams have played this season. Back on January 5 at the Spiro Sports Center, Brewer's 10-foot baseline jumper with two seconds to play allowed the Mountaineers to escape with a 60-58 win that night. Arthur-Williams closed out a back-and-forth first half with a layup at the buzzer to give the Mount a 27-26 halftime lead. Wagner then stormed out of the gates quickly in the second half, with three-point baskets by sophomore guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney), Peck and Nwajei, which keyed a 14-4 run that gave the Seahawks their biggest lead of the game of nine, at 40-31, with 16:46 left to play. The Mountaineers slowly cut into the Wagner lead, finally regaining the advantage at 52-51 on a Carney three-pointer at the 7:35 mark. The Seahawks tied the game at 54-54 on a Russell trey with 5:57 left, and again at 60-60 off a steal and ensuing layup by Nwajei at 2:07. Mount, however, countered with six straight points, all from the free throw line, with Arthur-Williams going 4-of-4 and Carney hitting 2-of-2, in building the lead to 66-60 before hanging on for the 68-65 win.


 












Nwajei Ranks No. 3 All-Time in NEC Single-Season Scoring Average (Both Overall and NEC Games Only)
Today's play concludes the 17^th season of NEC Women's Basketball. Heading into tonight's regular season finale, Jasmine Nwajei's 24.6 overall scoring average ranks No. 3 all-time and her 25.6 average in NEC games also ranks No. 3 all-time.
 
Nwajei Adds to School Single-Season Scoring Record, Now Up to 690 Points
With her 29 points on Saturday at Mount St. Mary's, Jasmine Nwajei upped her school-record single-season scoring output to 690 points. On February 23 vs. Bryant, the 5-8 guard became the Seahawks' all-time single-season scoring leader when she passed Hall of Fame member Stephanie Samuels, who tallied 654 points during the 1985-86 campaign.
 
Nwajei and Peck Now 15^th and 16^th, Respectively, in All-Time Scoring Nwajei is now up to 1,207 career points scored, which placed her in 15^th place on the Wagner all-time list. Peck, meanwhile, is in 16^th place, having scored 1,196 career points.
Wagner's high-scoring guard combination of Nwajei and  junior Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights OH/Shaker Heights) are now with six points of one another in career scoring. Peck has scored 1,184 career points, which ranks 15th on the Seahawk all-time scoring list while Nwajei is right behind her in 16th place with 1,178 career points scored. Nwajei has now scored 645 points on the season which is just nine shy of the all-time Seahawk single-season record of 654 points tallied by Stephanie Samuels in 1985-1986.
 
Last Time These Teams Met
Judith Sole scored 20 points and Anna Stamolamprou added 14 to lead defendng Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Robert Morris to an 86-47 victory over Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center. Junior guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) was one of the lone bright spots for the Seahawks, hitting for 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting. The 5-6 lefty is now up to 1,081 career points, which moves her to within three points of passing Marie Laurence-Archambault (2009-2013) for 20^th on the all-time Wagner career list. Sophomore guard Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John's Vianney) added seven points while sophomore forward Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) chipped in with six points and seven rebounds. The Seahawks also received a feisty four-point, career-high 10-rebound, effort from redshirt-sophomore guard Jazmine Hamlet (New York, NY/St. Francis Lewis), who added three steals and an assist in 33 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), who entered the game as the NEC's leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, was saddled by early foul trouble and was never able to get untracked, finishing with three points, while adding three rebounds and a game-high four steals in just 20 minutes of playing time. For the 5-8 New York City scoring dynamo, it marked the third time this season, and just the sixth time in her 44-game career, that she did not hit for double figures. Her previous season-low was five points at No. 7 Maryland (11/16) while her career low is the two points that she was held to at Rutgers (12/12/13).

About Robert Morris
The Robert Morris University women's basketball team can lock up the #2 seed in the 2015 NEC Women's Basketball Tournament presented with a win at home against Wagner. The Colonials are locked in to either the #2 or #3 seed in the upcoming tournament. The only scenario in which they are #3 is an RMU loss combined with a Bryant win Monday. CCSU has locked up first, Sacred Heart is fourth, St. Francis Brooklyn is fifth while Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and LIU Brooklyn will fill out the final three seeds in an order yet to be determined.
 
Last Time Out for the Colonials
Freshman forwards Megan Smith and Mikalah Mulrain combined for 32 points and 17 rebounds to lift the Robert Morris University women's basketball to a 71-60 win over Northeast Conference rival Saint Francis University at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday afternoon.  The victory was the 17th consecutive home league win for the Colonials who improve to 15-13 overall and 13-4 in the NEC. Smith led the Colonials with 18 points and came one rebound shy of collecting a double-double. She was 5-of-10 from the field, hit a pair of treys and was 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Mulrain came off the bench for 14 points and eight boards and was an efficient 5-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the chalk. She added two assists, two blocks and two steals. Anna Niki Stamolamprou and Ashley Ravelli also reached double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. RMU enjoyed a healthy 46-41 advantage on the glass and dominated the paint to the tune of 22-8. The Colonials did not allow the Red Flash to record a two-point basket in the second half until just over one minute remained in regulation.
 
All-Time Series
Wagner leads the all-time series 30-27 but Robert Morris has won 18 of the last 19 games vs. the Seahawks, including the 86-47 win earlier this season.


 












Top Scoring Games in Wagner History
1.   Stephanie Samuels vs. FDU, 2-18-86................ 43
2.   Jasmine Nwajei vs. Columbia, 12-30-14....... 40
3.   Jasmine Nwajei at Vermont, 12-14-14............ 39
4.   Jasmine Nwajei vs. LIU Brooklyn, 1-10-15……  37
 5.   Jasmine Nwajei vs. Sacred Heart  2-8-15……  36
6.   Jasmine Nwajei vs. Sacred Heart  2-3-15…….. 35  
7.   Jasmine Nwajei vs. Saint Francis U  1-26-15….34
      Meredith Kerns vs. Drexel, 11-28-01................. .34
      Susan Moffat vs. Cleveland St., 12-28-95.........34
      Stephanie Samuels at Seton Hall, 1-20-86......34
      Tricia Hoff vs. Jersey City State, 2-16-78.......... 34
12. Jasmine Nwajei vs. SFBK, 2-7-15..................     33
   Joy Gallagher vs. Boston U., 12-30-03...............    33
      Jenny Frazier vs. New Hampshire, 12-3-95.......33
      Kristee Chaplin at FDU, 1-26-95....................... . 33
      Jenny Frazier at FDU, 2-16-94.......................... .  33
      Stephanie Samuels at LIU, 1-7-86.....................  33
      Stephanie Samuels at Monmouth, 1-5-85........33
      Tricia Hoff vs. Mercy, 2-18-78........................ ..    33
 
Wagner All-Time Single-Season Scoring Average
1. Jasmine Nwajei, 2014-2015.................................... 24.6
2. Mary Gormley, 1980-1981 .........................................  23.8
    Mary Gormley, 1979-1980 .........................................  23.8
3. Stephanie Samuels, 1985-1986 .................................23.4
4. Tricia Hoff, 1977-1978 ..............................................     23.1
5. Gela Mazella (Mikalauskas), 1974-1975 .....................20.1
  
Playing Tough Non-Conference Schedules is the Cermignano Way
Wagner opened the 2014-15 season with a two-game road swing, beginning with a matchup at VCU of the Atlantic 10 (11/14) followed by a contest at No. 8 Maryland (11/16). The Seahawks' home opener was against No. 17 Rutgers (L 81-53). Led by Hall of Fame head coach C. Vivian Stringer, the 2014 WNIT Champions and the first Big 10 opponent to ever play at the Spiro Sports Center. The demanding non-conference schedule continued with a Nov. 30 game at Big East member St. John's (L 71-49). Third-year head coach Lisa Cermignano believes that last season's tough non-conference schedule helped prepare her team for NEC play and was a big reason for the Seahawks' six-game league improvement. After playing a non-league schedule that included heavyweights Kentucky, Rutgers, VCU and Pittsburgh, the Green & White went 8-10 in the NEC and qualified for the league tournament for the first time since 2010.

2014-15 Preseason All-NEC Women's Basketball
Senior               Jenniqua Bailey - Bryant
Senior               Alexa Hayward - Saint Francis U
Sophomore      Jasmine Nwajei - Wagner
Senior               Eilidh Simpson - St. Francis Brooklyn
Senior               Gabrielle Washington - Sacred Heart

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