Feb. 21, 2008

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - It was all about team for NJIT Thursday night, as six Highlanders scored in double figures in an 82-72 women's basketball win over visiting Utah Valley in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Four starters and two reserves scored at least 10 points for NJIT, paced by 16 points from freshman guard Jessica Gerald. Senior Erika Velez netted 12 points in her final home game, followed by Adriana Johnson, who came off the bench for 11 points.

The Oyelola twins, Taiwo and Kehinde, each scored 10 points, as did Ivana Seric. And Jackie McCaffrey, who was scoreless until making the first of her two free throws with 3:13 left, came up as big as anyone down the stretch, connecting on her last eight fouk shots--six in the last 39 seconds, to help secure the big win.

Remarkably, that one miss by McCaffrey, who finished 9-for-10 at the line, was NJIT's only miss as a team in the entire game. The Highlanders shot 25-for-26 (96 percent), including 17-for-18 in the second half with Utah Valley trying to come back.

Taiwo Oyelola was the top rebounder for NJIT, matching 10 rebounds with her 10 points for her fourth double-double of the season. Taiwo led the Highlanders to a 46-39 edge on the boards against the taller Wolverines. Her sister, Femi was the NJIT's second-leading rebounder, with six. The twins, who combined for 20 points, got 17 of them in the second half.

McCaffrey was NJIT's assists leader, with four, and Velez made three steals to lead the Highlanders in that category.

The balanced NJIT offense helped overcome a dominant individual performance by Utah Valley's junior center Robyn Fairbanks, who chalked up 34 points, 17 rebounds and six blocked shots.

With 8:26 left in the first half, Fairbanks, who is nearly unstoppable around the basket, but is also capable of hitting a three-point shot, had accounted for 19 of her team's first 25 points.

The only other double-figure scorer for Utah Valley was sophomore swing player Julie McMurray, who finished with 15 points--11 coming in the second half before she fouled out with 20 seconds remaining.

Senior Rebekah Peterson made a game-high four steals for the Wolverines.

NJIT, coming off of a season-high 90 points in last Saturday's 90-61 home win over Savannah State, again was in the flow, pouring in 43 first-half points for a 43-31 lead at the break.

Gerald had 14 points and Velez had 10 for NJIT at halftime, while Fairbanks led all scorers with 21 points, making 10 of 17 shots from the field, including a three-pointer.

NJIT held on to its double-figure lead through the first four minutes of the second half, but the Wolverines made the first of several second-half pushes and cut the lead to five, 47-42, after a trey by Sandy Marvin and then a tip-in by Fairbanks with 14:25 left.

But the Highlanders, who never quit when they are behind, proved to be a resilient team with the lead, as well.

NJIT answered the visitors' first big surge with a 9-0 run of its own, capped by Taiwo Oyelola's coast-to-coast steal and basket that made it 56-42 with 11:09 remaining.

Utah Valley, a quality team, was not done, however. The Wolverines closed the NJIT lead down to six with six minutes to go and they later got as close as they would get, 65-62, on Jordyn Bowen's layup at 3:54.

The Highlanders answered that threat by outscoring the visitors, 17-10, over the last four minutes. NJIT's last eight points came on perfect foul shooting in the closing 47 seconds.

The latest win by NJIT is all the more impressive considering the fact that Utah Valley came into the contest with a record of 15-7 and the Wolverines had twice defeated NJIT by 31-point margins in the first season of competition between the schools.

Things have changed in a big way for the Highlanders, however. The win over Utah Valley was their eighth, doubling their total from 2006-07, when they finished 4-24 in their first season facing Division I competition.

The 10-point win on Thursday gave NJIT a split of this season's two games after Utah Valley won the first meeting, 78-69, on February 7 in Utah.

The Highlanders will play the rest of their five games on the road, starting with a visit to Savannah State on Saturday. That contest in Georgia is scheduled for a 2 pm start.