Women's Basketball | 1/11/2015 11:08:00 AM

NJIT Women's Basketball Gameday Information

Game 19	Columbia (5-8) at NJIT (8-10)
Date | Time	Monday, January 12, 2015 | 7pm
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | Columbia Notes
Live Video/Radio	Highlanders Sports Network
Live Stats	Live Stats
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-time series	Columbia leads, 1-0 (Last meeting January 3, 2008)
Tickets	NJIT Highlander Tickets

NJIT will play the next four games against teams from the Ivy League, first hosting Columbia on January 12 at 7pm.
 
The Highlanders are coming off a 59-54 victory over Texas-Pan American, a win that improved NJIT's win streak to three straight.  NJIT's Nicole Maticka and Leah Horton each scored 14 points while senior guard Martina Matejcikova was the third double-figure scorer for NJIT, netting 12 points.
 
NJIT started its streak in South Carolina with a win over Wofford on January 2, and followed up with back-to-back wins over Western Athletic Conference opponents Chicago State on January 4 and Wednesday's win over Texas-Pan American. 
 
The Highlanders aim for its fourth straight win and first victory over Columbia Monday evening.  The last time NJIT won four straight was in 2012-13, when NJIT defeated Houston Baptist on February 16, Chicago State on March 2, Houston Baptist on March 9 and then Texas-Pan American on March 15 in the first round of the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament. 
 
Guard Alyssa Albanese (10.8ppg) and forward Leah Horton (10.6ppg) are averaging double-figures and Nicole Maticka, NJIT's sharp shooter is averaging 8.6ppg, while scoring at least 12 in each of the last three games.  Maticka is shooting 69 percent from three-point range (9-for-13) and 63 percent from the field (17-for-27) in the last three games while averaging 15ppg.
 
Columbia and NJIT have four opponents in common, Fairleigh Dickinson, Wagner, LIU Brooklyn and Lafayette.  NJIT went 2-2 (wins over Fairleigh Dickinson, 68-64, and Wagner 60-54) while Columbia won three games with its lone loss coming at Wagner, 97-86. 
 
The programs have met once before, on January 3, 2008 in Newark, with the Lions decisively winning, 64-48.
 
Columbia enters the game with a 5-8 record, having returned to the win column on Wednesday as the Lions defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 72-55.  Each of the Lions' five victories have come at home, in the friendly confines of Levien Gymnasium.  The Lions are 0-4 on the road.

Columbia was picked sixth in the 2014-15 Ivy League Preseason Coaches' Poll out of eight teams.  The Lions finished 6-22 overall, 3-11 in the Ivy League during the 2013-14 campaign, in its first season under Stephanie Glance.  
 
A former head coach at Illinois State University, Glance was named head coach at Columbia in April 2013.  She led Illinois State to three consecutive seasons with 19+ wins, two 24-win seasons and three WNIT appearances.  Prior to her tenure at Illinois State, she served one year as recruiting coordinator and special assistant to Pat Summitt at Tennessee.

The Lions rank second-best in offense in the Ivy League with 69.7ppg with a trio of Lions contributing double figures. Sophomore Tori Oliver leads the team in scoring with a league-best 18.4ppg, assists (42) and field goal percentage (48 percent 80-for-168). 

Freshman Camille Zimmerman is second on the team and fifth in the Ivy League with 15.5ppg while Alexa Giuliano is the third double-figure scorer for the Lions at 11.2ppg.
 
Senior Amara Mbionwu leads the Lions on the glass with 9.2rpg (third-best in the Ivy League) while Zimmerman, standing a 6-foot-1, tops the team with 14 blocks.
 
Michael Ventola will provide play-by-play on the live streaming audio, accompanied by live streaming video on the Highlanders Sports Network here on www.njjthighlanders.com. Programming is scheduled to begin around 6:45 pm (subscription charges apply).