Game 8	NJIT (2-5, 12-17 in 2014-15) at LIU Brooklyn (2-4, 9-21 in 2014-15)
Date | Time	Wednesday, December 9 | 7pm
Location | Arena	Brooklyn, NY | Steinberg Wellness Center
Live Audio	Highlanders Sports Network w/ Michael Ventola (audio) |
Live Video	NEC Front Row (free)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-time series | Last Meeting	LIU Brooklyn leads 3-1 | LIU 57, NJIT 48 - 12.11.14
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | LIU Brooklyn Notes

The Highlanders will look to return back to the win column on Wednesday at 7pm with a game at LIU Brooklyn in Steinberg Wellness Center.

Michael Ventola, voice of the Highlanders, will handle play-by-play on www.njithighlanders.com beginning at 6:45pm.

ALL-TIME SERIES
This is NJIT's fifth all-time Division I meeting with LIU Brooklyn, with the Blackbirds leading, 3-1.  The Blackbirds won the last meeting 57-48 in Newark on December 11, 2014.  NJIT's only win between the two schools came on November 20, 2013 in Brooklyn, 60-58, on a game winner by Alana Dudley.  Dudley drove the lane and scored the final two points of the game with :00.2 remaining to give the Highlanders the victory.  LIU won the first two meetings, 60-51, on January 6, 2007 in Brooklyn and 67-63, on December 12, 2007 in Newark.

NJIT VS. NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Highlanders are 12-15 all-time against Northeast Conference foes and 0-1 this season after a 76-53 loss at Wagner on December 2.

HIGHLANDERS ON THE ROAD
Four of NJIT's five losses this season have come on the road— at Binghamton in the season opener, Marshall, who made it to the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) in 2014-15, Wagner and Virginia, which has competed in 24 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship tournaments and has won 44 national postseason games over the years.

FLEISHER FAMILY COURT
The Highlanders are 2-1 at home with wins against St. Joseph's Brooklyn on November 24 and College of St. Joseph (VT) four days later.  The teams' lone loss at home came against Lehigh on November 19.  After visiting the Blackbirds on Wednesday, NJIT will play the next three games at home before the Christmas break.

GUARINO IN THE TOP 10 IN NATION
Kelly Guarino, who sustained three torn anterior cruciate ligament injuries while in high school, did not compete for NJIT in 2014-15, when, as a freshman, she spent the year rehabbing from her latest surgery.

Seven games into the 2015 season, Guarino continues to be a revelation for the young Highlanders, ranking first in the Atlantic Sun Conference, in 3-point field goals per game and third nationally, first in the A-Sun in 3-point field goal percentage (51.9) and 10th in the nation according to NCAA Division I national statistics rankings, through games of Tuesday, December 9.
 

STAT	TOTAL	NCAA	A-SUN
Three-Point FG Per Game	3.86	3	1
Three-Point FG Made	27	T-5th	1
Three-Point FG Percentage	51.9	10	1

 
ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK HONORS (Dec. 7)
Guarino earns her first Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Week award and becomes NJIT's first women's basketball weekly honoree after two strong performances for the Highlanders last week.  She averaged 18 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field (12-for-23) and 50 percent from three-point range (11-for-22) in two contests for the Highlanders.

The 5-foot-7 guard from Thiells, New York, made four of her team-leading seven 3-point baskets in the first half on her way to netting her career-high 24 points at Virginia, a highly-regarded Atlantic Coast Conference on December 5.

The seven 3-point baskets against Virginia tied Guarino's seven 3-pointers against small-college foe College of St. Joseph's (VT) on November 28, where she finished with 21 points. The total of 7 3-point baskets in each of the last two games is just two short of the Highlander program of 9 3-pointers in a game, set in January 2011 by Rayven Johnson (Class of 2013).

NJIT LEADERS
Points: Kelly Guarino (12.4 ppg); Leah Horton (10.9 ppg)
Rebounds: Leah Horton (7.0 rpg)
Field Goal Percentage: Kelly Guarino (.491; 27-for-52)
3-Point FG Made: Kelly Guarino (27-for-52)
Assists: Alana Dudley (32)
Steals: Leah Horton (12)

SCOUTING LIU BROOKLYN
LIU Brooklyn enters Wednesday's contest with a 2-4 mark on the young season after dropping a 63-53 decision at home to Colgate on December 5.

The Blackbirds, in a stretch of three home games in the Steinberg Wellness Center, are 1-1 in the month of December, after a thrilling overtime win at Navy on December 2.  LIU Brooklyn overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half forcing overtime, where the Blackbirds came out on top, 68-66.
 
LIU Brooklyn returns a veteran squad with no freshmen, including three starters and nine letter winners from the 2014-15 squad.  The Blackbirds finished with a 9-21 overall mark and an eighth place finish (6-12) in the Northeast Conference standings.  This season, the Blackbirds were selected to finish 10^th in the 2015-16 Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Stephanie Olivier begins her first season as head women's basketball coach at LIU Brooklyn, after two seasons as an assistant at Seton Hall.  Oliver was part of leading the Pirates to a school-record 28 victories and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15.

Olivier joined Seton Hall following a three-year stint as head coach at University of Bridgeport, where she improved the Purple Knight wins total each year, finishing the 2012-13 season with an 18-10 mark.

A standout at Marist College from 2000-04, Olivier was an MAAC All-Rookie selection in 2000-01 and earned second-team All-MAAC honors in 2003-04.  She was named MVP of the 2004 MAAC Tournament after scoring 30 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to guide the Red Foxes past Canisius in the championship game advancing Marist to their first-ever NCAA Tournament.

LIU BROOKLYN LEADERS
Points: Shanovia Dove (14.0 ppg); Shanice Vaughan (11.7 ppg); Paris Jones (11.7 ppg)
Rebounds: Jolanna Ford (8.8 rpg)
Field Goal Percentage: Shanice Vaughan (.537; 29-54)
3-Point FG Made: Paris Jones (16-38)
Assists: Shanice Vaughan (18)
Steals: Shanice Vaughan (13)