The NJIT women will play the next two games in New England, with the Highlanders visiting Harvard on Sunday, the 18th, and then Brown two days later. The Harvard game is slated for a 2 pm tipoff.
The Highlanders, who are in a stretch of four games against teams from the Ivy League, are coming off a 45-38 home loss to Columbia on January 12. None of the Highlanders reached double-figure point totals, as
Kim Tullis topped the NJIT scoring with nine points. The senior just missed a double-double after pulling down a personal career-best and team-leading 11 rebounds.
The run of Ivy opposition ends on Saturday, January 24, when the Highlanders host Penn at 2 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
Prior to the game against Columbia, the Highlanders had won three straight for the first time this season. NJIT's win streak started 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 Texas-Pan American on January 7.
The Highlanders have two players averaging double-figures—guard
Alyssa Albanese (10.6ppg) and forward
Leah Horton (10.4ppg). Albanese also tops the team in three additional categories—assists (78), three-point field goals made (23) and steals (22) while Horton is the team leader with 134 rebounds (7.1rpg).
Senior center
Nicole Maticka is coming off a season-best 7 blocked shot performance; two shy of her career high, which raised her school-record career total in blocks to 205. Maticka, who is third on the team in scoring at 8.1ppg, is shooting 46 percent from the field (22-for-49) and 45 percent from behind the arc (22-for-49).
Harvard and NJIT have one opponent in common thus far, Dartmouth. NJIT visited Dartmouth on November 16 and dropped a 5-point decision in overtime, 68-63, while the Crimson, who opened up Ivy League play hosting Dartmouth on January 10, fell 76-61.
The programs have met three times, with Harvard holding a 3-0 all-time record. The teams last met in Newark on January 15, 2014, with Harvard having four players score in double-figures in a 75-56 victory. The Crimson took the lead midway through the first half and held on from there.
The Crimson enter Sunday's contest on a three-game skid with a 6-8 overall record. Harvard, still seeking its first win in the 2015 calendar year, last won on December 30, 2014 against Lipscomb, 84-63, in the second game of the Georgia Tech Tournament.
The Crimson, 22-8 overall and 11-3 in the Ivy League last season. advanced to second round of the 2014 WNIT. Harvard earned one first-place vote and was picked third in the 2014-15 Preseason Ivy League Coaches' Media Poll.
Harvard's leading scorers on the season are seniors Erin McDonnell and Temi Fagbenle (13.8ppg) and junior AnnMarie Healy (13.1ppg). McDonnell, a 6-foot-1 forward, tops the team in three-point field goals made (35), while Healy is shooting 52 percent from the field (80-for-155). Fagbenle, a 6-foot-4 from London England, played High School for Blair Academy (NJ) and leads Harvardthe in rebounds (11.1rpg) and blocks (14).
Michael Ventola will have the live play-by-play call here on njithighlanders.com.
Follow NJIT Highlanders on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@njithighlanders) for all the latest news, photos and updates on NJIT Athletics.
