OREM, UT—The NJIT women's basketball team will travel to Great West Conference foe Utah Valley on Saturday for a 3pm (MT) contest at the UCCU Center.
 
The contest will be a part of the Great West Conference Weekend Showcase on CollegeInsider.com. Fans can watch free live video of the game by visiting CollegeInsider.com or uvu.edu/uvutv. Live stats and audio will also be available for fans at WolverineGreen.com.
 
The game will be a crucial for both teams as first place will be on the line in the conference standings. Both squads will enter the game tied atop the Great West standings with identical 3-1 conference marks but the Highlanders hold the advantage as they beat the Wolverines in Newark, 49-46, two weeks ago.
 
NJIT Notes
The NJIT women's basketball team, which has won its last three contests will travel to Great West Conference opponent Utah?Valley on Saturday for a 3pm (MT) tipoff with the Wolverines. 
 
NJIT (11-14, 3-1 GWC) has come out on top in a series of close games. The Highlanders beat Utah Valley, 49-46, on January 26 and then came from 18 points down to defeat Texas-Pan American, 81-75, in overtime over the weekend in Texas. And the streak went to three with Tuesday's two-point win over Colgate.
 
Sophomore Martina Matejcikova's 3-point shot with 7.8 seconds remaining was the difference for NJIT in its 53-51 women's basketball win over visiting Colgate Tuesday.
 
The victory was the 11th of the season and the third time the Highlanders have reached the 11-win mark since competing against a Division I schedule (first season against D1 schedule 06-07) - (07-08 (10), 11-12 (13, school-record).
 
This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, with the Highlanders pulling out a 49-46 home victory over the GWC Preason favorite.  Utah Valley holds an 8-4 overall record over the Highlanders while NJIT has only one win in Orem, dating back to last season in a 48-46 victory on Feb. 9, 2012.
 
The Highlanders, who received one first-place vote, totaled 19 points for second place, finished behind Great West Conference favorite Utah Valley. The Wolverines received four first-place votes in the ballot for a total of 24 points.  Utah Valley finished tied for second in the Great West last season with NJIT as each team posted 6-4 marks in conference play.
 
Rayven Johnson, who earned GWC Player of the Week and CollegeSportsMadness Player of the Week in the Great West Conference, had a record-setting night Saturday, scoring a career-high 36 points and grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds.  The 17 rebounds were also a new career mark for the senior and also an NJIT Division I single-game record in the Highlanders 81-75 overtime victory at Texas-Pan American.
 
The Preseason GWC first-team honoree, Johnson, who is averaging a double-double with 16.1ppg and 10.0rpg (ranks 18th in the nation).  The senior has posted 12 double-doubles on the season and 23 for her career while registering double-figure scoring in 20 out of 25 games this season.    
 
NJIT's second leading scorer is junior Uju Nwankwo, the Highlanders athletic forward and a Preseason Great West Conference second-team honoree. 
 
Nwawnko is averaging 7.1ppg and second with 7.2rpg.  Nwawnko has at least one block or one steal in 22 out of 25 games.  Nwanwko leads the GWC in blocked shots with 47 (ranks 38th in the nation with 1.9bpg) and fifth in the conference in rebounding.
 
Sophomore Sarah Olson ranks third on the team with 6.5ppg.  Olson ranks third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (40-108 - .370) and third in three-pointers made (40).
 
Point guard Alyssa Albanese leads the Highlanders with 64 assists (ranking sixth in the conference, 2.3apg).
 
Utah Valley Notes
 
Utah Valley, winners of its last five out of seven contests, comes into Saturday's GWC game with a 9-13 overall record, 3-1 in the conference.
 
The Wolverines are coming off a 87-27 victory over Walla Walla without Preseason Great West Player of the Year Sammie Jensen.  Tina Doughty led the way scoring 20 of her game-high 27 points finishing the game at 8-for-10 from three.  Doughty is averaging 10.7ppg ranking fourth in the GWC.
 
Jensen, who has not appeared in the last two contests (at HBU and vs. Walla Walla), is averaging a double-double with 17.2ppg and 12.8rpg, ranking the senior tied for ninth in the nation.  Jensen ranks first in rebounding the in the conference and second in scoring.
 
Kaycee Mansfield is averaging close to double-figures with 9.4pp and 6.9rpg while Cydne Gray leads the Wolverines with 68 assists followed by Alle Cardwell's 63 assists.