Women's Basketball | 3/2/2015 10:18:00 PM

Game 28	NJIT (12-15) at UMass Lowell (13-15)
Date | Time	Tuesday, March 3, 2015 | 7pm
Location | Arena	Lowell, MA | Costello Athletic Center
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | UMass Lowell Notes
Live Video	America East TV
Live Radio	Highlanders Sports Network
Live Stats	In-game statistics

The NJIT women's basketball team will conclude the 2014-15 season on Tuesday at 7 pm when the Highlanders visit UMass Lowell at Costello Athletic Center.

NJIT, which has won four of its last five contests, is coming off a 78-35 home victory on Senior Nigh against visiting St. Joseph's Brooklyn.  NJIT was paced by senior Martina Matejcikova, who posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, as the Highlanders finished 9-6 at home.

The Highlanders will aim for their 13^th win on Tuesday, which will be tied for the second with most wins in the Division I era (NJIT finished 13-17 in 2011-12). 

The Highlanders are paced by sophomore forward Leah Horton, who tops the team in two categories— scoring (10.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg).

Second on the team is senior guard Alyssa Albanese (10.0 ppg) and center Nicole Maticka stands at 7.8 ppg.  Albanese, who tied the single game NJIT school record with a 13-assist performance against St. Joseph's Brooklyn (record also held by Jackie McCaffrey vs. Nyack on February 25, 2005), also set the new single-season assist record with 122, previously held by Nicole Ballou in 2002-03 with 120 assists.  With one game remaining in her college career, Albanese has combined for 356 career assists and 136 steals, both Division I records. 

Maticka, who is ranked 28th in the nation in blocks per game at 2.31, recorded six blocks Friday, extending her career total to 236.

UMass Lowell (13-15) is coming off back-to-back wins in America East conference play against New Hampshire and Vermont.  Both games were decided by seven or less points.

The River Hawks are in their second season of a four-year reclassification period of Division I competition, as they reclassify from NCAA Division II. With the exception of men's ice hockey (entered Division I in 1983-84), all UMass Lowell teams are in the second year. UMass Lowell's former Division II programs will be eligible for the America East Conference postseason and the NCAA Tournament in 2017-18.

In the last game, UMass Lowell's freshman Jontay Walton spearheaded a stout defensive effort by the River Hawks, who won their second in a row, prevailing 72-64 at Vermont. Walton set personal marks in points (14) and steals (5) as the squad set a season-high with 16 steals in their America East finale. Jasmine McRoy scored a team-high 15 points and added three steals while Shannon Samuels and Melissa Frase added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

After finishing 5-23 overall, 4-12 in league play and a seventh place finish in the AE standings in 2013-14, UMass Lowell was picked to repeat as seventh in the preseason coaches' poll.

The River Hawks slightly surpassed their preseason projection, finishing sixth in the standings with a 7-9 AE record under first-year head coach Jenerrie Harris.  Harris ranks first on the UMass Lowell first-year head coach most wins list with 13, after the River Hawks 72-64 win over Vermont on February 26.

UMass Lowell is led by two double-figure scorers Shannon Samuels (14.1 ppg) and Jasmine McRoy (12.3 ppg).  Lindsey Doucette tops the team on the glass with 198 rebounds (7.1 rpg) and 26 blocked shots.

The Highlanders won the first-ever meeting between the two schools in Newark last season, 87-75.

Fans can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a live video stream and webcast play-by-play and commentary from Michael Ventola, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed. Audio coverage begins at 6:45 pm with tip off set for 7 pm.