Women's Basketball | 1/3/2015 9:46:00 AM

NJIT Women's Basketball Gameday Information

Game 17	Chicago State (2-10) at NJIT (6-10)
Date | Time	Sunday, January 4, 2015 | 2pm
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | Chicago State Notes
Live Video/Radio	Highlanders Sports Network
Live Stats	Live Stats
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-Time Series	Chicago State leads 8-4 (last meeting March 2, 2013, NJIT 59, Chicago State 33)
Tickets	NJIT Highlander Tickets

NJIT, which has played its last five games on the road, will host Chicago State on January 4 in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

The Highlanders, who are 3-3 on Fleisher Family Court, last played in Newark on December 11 hosting LIU Brooklyn, dropping a 57-48 decision.

NJIT (6-10), snapped a six-game skid, upending first-time foe Wofford, 76-50, to open the New Year.  The Highlanders put up their highest scoring total of the season, led by three double-figure scorers—Nicole Maticka (19 points), Alyssa Albanese (18 points) and Leah Horton (12 points).  NJIT also connected on a season-best 11 three-pointers and 19 assists at Wofford.

Senior guard Albanese paces the Highlanders in four categories—scoring (11.5ppg), assists (68), steals (20) and three-point field goals made (20).  Albanese's 302 career assists tops
NJIT's Division I record book while her 116 career steals, ranks tied for second with Ivana Seric (2007-11) in NJIT's D1 era.

Horton, a talented sophomore forward, is averaging 10.7 points.  At 6-foot-1, she has led or shared the team lead in rebounding in 9 games, with an average of 7.2 per game.

Maticka, who scored 19 in the victory over Wofford, is averaging 8.0ppg, while connecting on 47-of-96 shots from the floor (49 percent) and leads the team with 30 blocks.

Chicago State
Chicago State, playing their second season in the Western Athletic Conference, was selected to finish eighth in the 2014-15 Preseason Coaches' Poll, after finishing the 2013-14 season with a 3-27 overall mark, 0-16 in WAC play.

The Cougars, like NJIT, were part of the old Great West Conference.  Both teams were in the Great West for the conference's existence from 2008-09 season through the 2012-13 season.

After 2012-13, the GWC ceased operations, with most of its members, including Chicago State, departing to the Western Athletic Conference.

NJIT, which won the last women's basketball game ever played in the Great West, the 2013 GWC championship game, will renew its series vs. Chicago State.

Angela Jackson, in her 12^th season at Chicago State, guided the Cougars to a program-best season in 2010-11, when her squad won the regular season and tournament titles in the GWC.  The Cougars continued postseason play in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI), recording wins over Eastern Illinois and Cleveland State advancing to the WBI Final Four.

Chicago State (2-10) is coming off an 81-40 road loss at Wright State on December 29.  Layne Murphy paced the Cougars with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Senior forward Paris Williams leads the Cougars in scoring (9.8ppg) and shares the team lead with Jasmine Sanders with 16 steals.  Murphy, the Cougars 6-foot-2 junior forward, tops the team in rebounds (7.1rpg) while ranking second in scoring at 9.6ppg.

The Series
Chicago State leads the all-time series between the two programs, 8-4.  In 2012-13, the two teams played home-and-home and each won the game on its home court (Chicago State, 58-57, in Chicago on Jan. 19; NJIT, 59-33, on Mar. 2 in Newark).

Michael Ventola will handle play-by-play in conjunction with the live streaming video feed on www.njithighlanders.com.