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Smithfield, RI – Ivory Bailey scored 18 points and Breanna Rucker added 17 to lead a balanced offensive performance by Bryant which offset a 32--point game by junior guard and NCAA scoring leader, Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), en route to a 94-67 win over shorthanded Wagner this afternoon at the Chace Center.
 
The victory allows the Bulldogs to remain in a first-place tie in the Northeast Conference (NEC) standings with Sacred Heart, who defeated Mount St. Mary's today. Sacred Heart and Bryant sit atop the league standings with matching 11-2 records and the Bulldogs are now 14-10 overall.
 
The Seahawks fall to 2-11 in conference play and 4-20 overall. Already without injured starters Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights), Alexis Smith (Medford, NY/St. John the Baptist/Illinois) and Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney), Wagner was without a fourth starter today as the NEC's leading rebounder, Sofia Roma (Richmond Hill, NY/Nazareth Regional), was sidelined due to an injury incurred Monday vs. Mount St. Mary's.
 
For the 5-8 Nwajei, today's 32-point outburst was her 21^st career 30-point game and 11^th of the season. Nwajei, who became Wagner's all-time leading scorer on February 6 vs. Farleigh Dickinson, is now up to 1,904 career points as her march to 2,000 continues. Her NCAA-leading scoring average is up to 27.9 ppg. while she is hitting for 33.3 ppg. in NEC play.
 
Sophomore guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) tossed in 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting vs. the Bulldogs in registering her fifth double-digit scoring game of her career. In the two games vs. Bryant this season, Russell is averaging 17.5 ppg. as she scored a career-high 20 points vs. the Bulldogs back on January 9 on Staten Island.
 
Freshman guard Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) shot 2-of-5 from three-point range while tallying 12 points, which are three shy of the career-high 15 she tallied at St. Francis Brooklyn (2/1). 
 
In addition to her 17 points, Rucker pulled down 11 rebounds in recording a double-double for the Bulldogs. Dani Anderson had 14, while Klein and Ramcharran added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Bryant, which led 49-30 at halftime.
 
Bryant outshot Wagner 54.1 percent to 36.5 percent from the floor. Without the 6-2 Roma, who averages 12.3 rebounds per game NEC games, the Bulldogs earned 44-29 edge on the glass. The Seahawks led in fast-break points, 8-6, and points in the paint were even at 30-30, while Bryant held the upper hand in points off turnovers (19-10), second-chance points (16-6) and bench scoring (38-30).

Today's contest was Bryant's Play4Kay Day in support of cancer awareness as the Seahawks each wore pink ribbons.

The Seahawks are next in action on Monday, February 15 when Wagner hosts Saint Francis U in a 4:00 p.m. tipoff at the Spiro Sports Center on President's Day. Monday's matchup with SFU s will be Wagner's Play4Kay Day and all fans wearing pink will gain free admittance.
 
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