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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Wagner College women's basketball team welcomes the defending NEC champions, the FDU Knights, to the Spiro Sports Center for a Thursday night tip-off. The Seahawks and Knights matchup is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. on NEC Front Row atop Grymes Hill.
Wagner (6-9, 2-2 NEC) dropped its matchup at Mercyhurst, 69-66, on Saturday to drop to 2-2 in the conference. Senior Irene Fernandez de Caleya scored a career-high 20 points and was named an NEC Prime Performer for her efforts throughout last weekend's games.
Against the Lakers, Wagner shot 27-51 (52..2%) from the field but 1-8 (12.5%) from beyond-the-arc.
Since the start of conference play, the Seahawks rank atop the NEC in team field goal percentage, converting on 47.4% of all shots taken and second in the conference in turnover margin with +2.5.
Since the start of the new year, Foz ranks second in steals per game within the NEC at 2.8 steals per contest. Senior Hawa Balde-Camara sits third in the conference in blocks per game with 1.3. Both Foz and Balde-Camara ended last season in first place in their respective categories.
Fernandez de Caleya ranks eighth in scoring (14.0), fifth in rebounding (7.5), fourth in field goal percentage (52.6%), tenth in assists (3.0), and ninth in steals (1.8) per game among other NEC athletes. The Seahawks were picked to finish seventh in the conference's preseason coaches poll.
A win on Saturday would improve Wagner's conference mark back to above .500%.
FDU (13-4, 4-0 NEC) took down New Haven by a score of 65-57 to earn its 23rd consecutive NEC regular season win. The last time the Knights lost to an NEC opponent in the regular season was back on February 24, 2024 against Le Moyne.
Stephanie Gaitley runs the helm of the FDU coaching staff and is in her third season with the Knights. Gaitley has been the head coach at six different schools and came into this season with a 727-414 record, ranking her as the fifth winningest coach in NCAA Division I (among active head coaches) and the 15th winningest coach of all-time in NCAA Division I history.
Sophomore Ava Renninger leads the Knights' offense averaging 14.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Fellow sophomore Kailee McDonald chips in 11.9 points while junior Rebecca Osei-Owusu corrals a team-best 7.3 rebounds per contest.
Among the NEC, the Knights rank first in scoring offense (74.3), scoring defense (48.8), and rebounding margin (+16.5). FDU was selected as unanimous favorites in the NEC preseason coaches poll.
After taking on FDU, Wagner welcomes conference newcomer New Haven to the Spiro Sports Center for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, January 17.
