Highlights I Coach Cermignano Post-Game Press Conference 

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Staten Island, NY – Junior guard Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) tossed in a game-high 27 points despite being sidelined for an eight-minute stretch in the second half due to foul trouble, and sophomore guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) scored a career-high 20 points, but Bryant was able to rally for an 82-71 Northeast Conference (NEC) win this afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
With 4:43 left in the third quarter, and the Seahawks on top 42-38, Nwajei went to the bench after picking up her fourth personal foul.  Without Nwajei on the floor, Wagner extended the lead to eight, 50-42, with 2:03 remaining in the quarter on a Russell three-point jumper. The Bulldogs cut the deficit to three, 51-48, at the end of the quarter before opening the final stanza on a 12-6 run in taking a 60-57 lead with 7:07 left to play on an Ivory Bailey layup. With the Seahawks trailing by this three-point count, Nwajei was reinserted into the game with 6:51 remaining.
 
A Russell jumper at the 6:46 mark made it a one-point game at 60-59 but Tiersa Winder answered with a three-pointer at 6:19 to push the lead to 63-59 and Wagner was unable to draw closer than four the rest of the way as the Bulldogs went 10-of-13 from the free throw line down the stretch en route to the win.
 
Both teams shot the ball well in the pivotal fourth quarter which saw Bryant outscore Wagner 34-20. The Seahawks were 50 percent from the floor (9-of-18) in the final stanza but the Bulldogs were a sizzling 66.7 percent (10-of-15).

In dropping their seventh straight, the shorthanded Seahawks fall to 2-12 on the season and 0-3 in the NEC while Bryant improves to 6-8 overall and 3-0 in league play.

Wagner received another strong outing on the inside by Sofia Roma (Richmond Hill, NY/Nazareth Regional). The 6-2 forward totaled just three points but was masterful on the boards, ripping down 17 rebounds, 13 of which came on the defensive glass, to finish one carom shy of matching her career high. Junior forward Jackie Dluhi (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) finished with nine points for the Seahawks to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Junior forward Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney) added eight points, on 3-of-6 shooting, along with four rebounds and a steal, while senior guard Jazmine Hamlet (New York, NY/Francis Lewis) contributed four points and five rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs were extremely balanced offensively as three players, Bailey, Alex Klein, and Breanna Rucker, shared team-high honors with 17 points each. Winder and Morgan Olander supplied 13 and 11 points, respectively, as Bryant placed five players in double digits on the afternoon.
 
Bryant took a 34-30 lead into the locker room at halftime as Klein led the way with 12 while Nwajei scored 14 of her 27 points prior to intermission.
 
Bryant held a narrow 45.8 percent to 41.5 percent edge in the shooting department while out-rebounding the Seahawks, 43-38. The Bulldogs held a scant 32-30 advantage in points in the paint while also leading in points off turnovers (17-11) and second-chance points (16-13). Wagner, meanwhile, held the edge in both fast-break points (13-11) and bench scoring (20-13).
 
The Seahawks are right back at it on Monday, January 11 when they travel to Fairfield, CT to meet the Sacred Heart Pioneers . Tip-off at the William H. Pitt Center is 7:00 p.m. and the game can be seen live, free of charge, on necfrontrow.com
 
NOTES – Jasmine Nwajei, who entered the game atop the NEC scoring race while ranking seventh nationally, is now averaging 23.4 points per game. The 5-8 New York City guard, who was No. 2 nationally in scoring a year ago at 24.8 ppg., holds two of the top four scoring games in the nation this season. On December 18, she poured in a school-record 45 points vs. Bryant, which is the nation's top scoring game this season, while her 42-point outburst at Saint Francis U (1/2) is tied for the fourth-highest scoring game.
 
More Jasmine
In notching her eighth 20-point plus game of the season, and sixth straight, Nwajei is now up to 1,563 career points, which moves her into fifth place on the Seahawk all-time scoring list, past Amanda Young (1995-99), who amassed 1,550 points in her Hall of Fame Career. Nwajei is just two points shy of another Hall of Fame member, Nia Ryan (1996-00), who sits in fourth place with 1,565 points.
 
Russell Tops Previous Career High by Five
Tanasia Russell's 20-point outburst today, which came on 7-of-12 shooting (4-of-7 from three-point range), topped her previous career high of 15 that she set last week at Saint Francis U (1/4).
 
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