Box Score (PDF)

Staten Island, NY – NCAA scoring leader Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum) scored all 23 of her points in the second half vs. Fairleigh Dickinson in becoming Wagner's all-time career scoring leader, as the Seahawks staged a furious second-half rally which came up short as the Knights posted a 73-57 win.
 
With the loss, the Green & White fall to 4-18 on the season, 2-9 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while FDU improves to 9-15 overall, 6-5 in league play.
 
The Knights raced out to a 48-24 halftime lead as Nwajei was held scoreless in a half for just the second time all season. Once down by 25, at 50-25, Wagner went on a 20-9 run, led by Nwajei, in closing the deficit to 14 at 59-45 with 2:40 left in the third quarter.  Nwajei tallied 16 points in the third quarter on 5-of-8 shooting as the Seahawks outscored the Knights 22-13 in the frame.
 
Wagner would get as close as 13, at 61-48, on a free throw by sophomore guard Tanasia Russell (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) but the teams traded baskets the rest of the way as FDU went on to record the 16-point victory. 
 
During her 23-point second-half outburst, Nwajei was 8-of-12 from the floor. For the game, she wound up 8-of-17 shooting and 5-of-8 from the line to go with four rebounds, four steals and three rebounds.
 
Entering the game needing 19 points to set the school scoring record, she scored the milestone basket on a three-point jumper from left of the arc with 2:42 left to play, a bucket which gave her 23 points at the time. Nwajei has now scored 1,839 career points, which surpasses Stephanie Samuels who amassed 1,835 points from 1982-1986.
 
Senior guard Tessa Wade (Penn Valley, PA/Lower Merion) was hot early, scoring all 12 of her career-high 12 points in the opening half on a sharp 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, while Russell added eight for the Seahawks.
 
Cruz paced FDU with 21 points while Erika Livermore and Madelynn Comly added 14 apiece. Livermore also recorded a game-high 11 rebounds in registering a double-double.
 
Wagner is next in action on Monday, February 8 when the Seahawks play host to the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
NOTES – Nwajei reached another milestone today as she entered the NEC's all-time Top 10 scoring list, passing Sacred Heart's Callan Taylor (2009-12), who is at 1,822 points, for the 10^th spot. Entering the game at 27.7 ppg., Nwajei is now at 27.5 ppg. Kelsey Plum of Washington entered today No. 2 in scoring at 27.1 ppg. following a 30-point outing on Friday night in a 61-53 loss at Oregon St. 
 
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