Pictured Above: Jasmine Nwajei (photo by Dave Saffran)Box Score (PDF) I Box Score (HTML)Staten Island, NY – Alexis Carter recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds and Jessica Harris hit for 12 points and eight rebounds to offset a 33-point outing from NCAA scoring leader
Jasmine Nwajei (Rockaway Park, NY/Murry Bergtraum), in leading Mount St. Mary's to a 59-50 win over Wagner tonight at the Spiro Sports Center.
With the loss, the injury-riddled Seahawks fall to 4-19 on the season, 2-10 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play, while the Mountaineers, in completing the season sweep, improve to 6-18 overall, 4-8 in league play.
Already without junior guard
Lyndsay Rowe (South River, NJ/St. John Vianney), senior guard
Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/Shaker Heights) and fifth-year senior guard
Alexis Smith (Medford, NY/St. John the Baptist/Illinois), sophomore forward
Sofia Roma (Richmond Hill, NY/Nazareth Regional) was sidelined with a leg injury at the 1:37 mark and did not return.
Wagner was down 20-10 when Roma, the NEC's leading rebounder, went to the bench. Sparked by 14 straight points from Nwajei, Wagner rallied to take a 34-33 halftime lead as Nwajei, who was
selected as one of 10 candidates for the prestigious Nancy Liberman Award earlier in the day, tallied 21 of her 33 point in the opening stanza.
A Nwajei layup with 5:33 left in the third quarter gave Wagner its biggest lead of the game, a five-point cushion at 42-37. Kalyla Bates answered with a three-pointer to spark an 11-0 run to close the quarter as the Mountaineers entered the fourth with a 46-42 lead.
After a Jody Chickey layup opened an eight-point Mount lead at 50-42 at the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter, Nwajei drained a three to make it a five-point game with 4:48 to play. This is as close as Wagner would get, however, as the Mount outscored the Seahawks 9-5 down the stretch in posting the 59-50 victory.
Nwajei was the lone Seahawk in double figures as senior guard
Jazmine Hamlet (New York, NY/Francis Lewis) and freshman guard
Julia McClure (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) added six and five points, respectively.
Both defenses held the upper hand on this night as the Mount held a slight 33.3 percent to 32.2 percent edge in shooting. The Mountaineers took advantage of Roma's absence in recording a 51-38 edge in the rebounding department which led to a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint. Points off turnovers were even at 12-12, while the Mount held the edge in second-chance points (10-8), fast-break points (10-8), and bench scoring (13-7).
The game was tied five times and featured 10 lead changes.
For Nwajei, who is averaging 27.7 ppg.this marks the ninth times his season and 20th time in her career that she has topped the 30 point mark.Wagner is next in action on Saturday, February 13 when the Seahawks travel to Smithfield, RI to meet Bryant in a 1:00 p.m. tip-off at the Chace Center.
NOTES – Prior to the game, Nwajei was presented with a commemorative basketball from head coach
Lisa Cermignano in her becoming Wagner's all-time leading scorer last time out on Saturday vs. FDU. Nwajei passed former scoring leader Stephanie Samuels (1,835 points form 1982-86) that day and, following tonight's game, is at 1,872 career points.
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.
