Box Score
 
CHICAGO—NJIT sophomore guard Sarah Olson scored a game-high 16 points, leading the second-seeded Highlanders past third-seeded Texas-Pan American, 52-42, in the semifinals Friday at the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament at the Emil and Patricia A. Jones Convocation Center on the campus of Chicago State.
 
The Highlanders, who have won seven out of their last eight contests, improve to an even 15-15 overall and advance to the postseason tournament championship game for the first time since the formation of the Great West Conference for basketball in 2009-10. 
 
NJIT will face regular season champion and #1 seed Utah Valley, which defeated #5 Houston Baptist, 67-53, in Friday's other semifinal in the 4 pm (CDT) championship game on Saturday at Chicago State.

Utah Valley, which finished 7-1 in GWC regular season play, a game ahead of 6-2 NJIT split the season series against the Highlanders, who beat UVU in Newark (49-46 on January 26) and lost to the Wolverines in Utah (64-47 on February 9).
 
Olson, a guard from Freehold, NJ, finished 6-of-12 from the field and 4-for-9 from behind the arc for the Highlanders.  The 5-foot-9 guard scored 13 of her points in the first half.
 
Not only an offensive threat for NJIT Friday, Olson was a big contributor on the defensive end, registering a new career-high five steals (previous mark was 3 vs. Utah Valley, 1.28.12) while pulling down four rebounds.
 
“I know its tournament time and the team needs me not only to score but on the defensive end.” Olson commented.
 
NJIT's other double-figure scorer was GWC honorable mention Kimberly Dweck, who finished with 11 points, while adding three assists.
 
Senior Rayven Johnson, a GWC first-team selection and Uju Nwankwo, the GWC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and GWC second-team honoree, recorded eight points apiece.  Nwanwko grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and had two blocks, while Johnson posted nine rebounds.
 
Texas-Pan American (12-16) was led by KaeLynn Boyd, a GWC All-Newcomer selection, who paced the Broncs with 14 points and seven rebounds.
 
Broncs forward Cassandra Moody combined for six points, eight rebounds and a game-high four blocks while, Joyea Marshall also added six points in the loss.
 
NJIT set the tone early, jumping out to an 11-point advantage, 15-4, at the 14:12 mark, led by Olson's eight points.  After a 6-2 score two minutes into the contest, the Highlanders ran off nine straight points for the 11-point lead.
 
Broncs' Marshall ended the Highlanders run with a layup just under the 14-minute mark, for a 15-6 score, but NJIT went on another run, scoring the next six points,  increasing to a double-digit lead, 21-6, with 11:13 remaining.
 
For the second time, Marshall ended the Broncs' drought with a jumper with 8:30 on the clock.  NJIT would take its largest lead of the contest, 17, 26-9, with seven minutes left to go in the first period, on an Olson three-pointer.
 
Texas-Pan American scored six consecutive points, cutting the Highlander lead down to 11, 26-15, with 4:30 remaining in the half.  Boyd sparked the run for Texas-Pan American hitting one of two from the free throw line and later finished the run on a three-pointer.
 
After a layup by Olson at 4:09, the Broncs finished the half on a 6-0 run pulling within five, 28-23, of the Highlanders heading into the locker room.
 
To open the second half, NJIT scored the first six points, increasing the Highlander lead back to double-figures, 11, 34-23, at the 16:19 mark. 
 
Neither team would score over the next two minutes until Texas-Pan American's Bianca Torre sank her only points of the contest from behind the arc at the 14:12 mark, cutting the lead down to single-digits, 34-26.
 
Texas-Pan American cut the Highlander lead down even lower, to five, 36-31, on a layup by Franchesca Simon, capping a 5-0 run from the 12:27 mark to the 10:18 mark. 
 
NJIT answered with a three-ball from Olson just under the 10-minute mark, going up eight, 39-31, but the Broncs had an answer for the Highlanders on the opposite end with a three-pointer of their own from Jasmine Thompson coming at the top of the key, 39-34, with 9:27 left to go.
 
The Highlanders extended the lead back to to 10, 46-36, after a 7-2 run sparked by a three-pointer by senior Melanie Griffin at the 6:24 mark.  Griffin had five points in the run for NJIT.
 
The Broncs cut the lead down to single-digits for the final time in the contest, 46-38, after a layup by Boyd with 2:42 remaining.  In the final 2:20, NJIT scored six points, all coming from the charity stripe for a 52-42 victory.
 
As a team, NJIT finished 11-for-13 from the free throw line while adding 12 steals and holding a 41-to-33 advantage on the boards over the Broncs.
 
Looking ahead to playing in the GWC finals, first-year head coach Steve Lanpher commented, “We have to play our best basketball (we are playing our best right now) and whoever we match up against we are going to be excited to play.”