Women's Basketball | 1/5/2016 11:10:00 PM

Game 15	USC Upstate (9-6, 0-0 A-Sun) at NJIT (3-11, 0-0 A-Sun)
Date | Time	Saturday, January 9, 2016 | 1pm
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Fleisher Athletic Center (1,500)
Live Video|Audio	ESPN3 streaming telecast (WatchESPN app., www.watchespn.com) Michael Ventola (play-by-play); Dave Calloway (color)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-time series	First all-time meeting
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | USC Upstate Notes

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT NJITTIX.COM
 
The game will be shown live on ESPN3 (all remaining home women's basketball games and all Atlantic Sun Conference away games will be live on ESPN3)

Michael Ventola, voice of the Highlanders, is on play-by-play and Dave Calloway is on board to provide expert commentary.
 
A simple way to find ESPN3 is on NJIT's official athletics website, www.njithighlanders.com. At the top of the webpage, in the red bar, click on Watch/Listen and click on Live ESPN3 Events.  That brings you to an ESPN3 portal where you can access the desired program.
 
For more details on how to watch NJIT on ESPN3, visit Frequently Asked Questions about WatchESPN. 

THE GAME
NJIT will begin play in the Atlantic Sun Conference, hosting USC Upstate on Saturday at 1 pm, marking the first game in the new conference affiliation for NJIT. The men follow with their game against USC Upstate beginning at 4 pm.

The Highlanders are in their first year as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference after being the nation's only Division I Independent the previous two seasons.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Saturday will mark the first meeting between the two schools.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
USC Upstate (9-6) has won three straight and winners of its last four-out-of-five contests. The Spartans have won three straight games for the second time this season, first coming from November 17-21 against Bob Jones, Southern Wesleyan and IPFW.

Senior Brittany Starling, the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week, is coming off an 18-point, 16-rebound performance against Western Carolina on January 2.  For the week, Starling averaged 21.5 points per game and 15.0 rebounds per game. Starling has scored 20-plus points in the last games, including six straight double-doubles.  She leads the conference with nine double-doubles.

The Spartans 6-foot center leads the conference in rebounds (13.1), ranking second in the nation in rebounds (197) and sixth in rebounds per game.  She is the league's second-leading scorer with 18.0 point per game.

Senior guard Kristen Dickerson is the Spartans other double-figure scorer, averaging 10.0 point per game.  She leads the conference in steals with 23.

Travonda Haddock, a 5-foot-9 guard, tops the team in blocks with 19, while ranking second in the A-Sun.

ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL & HONORS
The Spartans, who finished with a 14-16 overall mark in 2014-15 and 6-8 in conference play, were selected to finish fifth in the 2015-16 Preseason Atlantic Sun Conference.  Starling was selected to the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason All-Conference team for the third straight year and named to the first-team A-Sun Preseason All-Conference team selected by CollegeSportsMadness.

HEAD COACH TAMMY GEORGE
Head Coach Tammy George in her 11^th season at the helm of the Spartans, is the all-time leader in victories (143) at USC Upstate.  She guided the Spartans to two Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) tournament appearances in 2010-11 and 2013-14.  In 2013-14, the Spartans finished with the third-best season in Division I history (currently in ninth season as a Division I program; first season 2007-08) with a 17-15 overall mark, 11-7 in the Atlantic Sun.

In her first season at USC Upstate in 2005-06, she led the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1994-95 season, finishing with a 16-14 overall record.

USC UPSTATE LEADERS
Points: Brittany Starling (18.0ppg)
Rebounds: Brittany Starling (13.1rpg)
Field Goal Percentage: Brittany Starling (106-195; .544)
3-Point FG Made: Raven Jefferson (14)
Assists: Kristen Dickerson (35)
Steals: Kristen Dickerson (23)

SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
The Highlander will make history on Saturday, January 9, hosting its first women's basketball Atlantic Sun Conference contest.

NJIT (3-11) looks to snap a six-game skid when it hosts USC Upstate at 1pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center. 

Led by junior forward Leah Horton, who scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, the Highlanders dropped a tough 74-49 non-conference defeat to Brown Monday.

NJIT's Horton tops the team in five categories – points (11.6), rebounds (7.8), free throw percentage (42-61; .689) and field goal percentage (60-134; .448).  Her 7.8 rebounds per game ranks seventh and 11.6 points per game ranks in the top 10 in the A-Sun.

Horton has recorded double-digits in seven of NJIT's last nine games, including a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) against North Dakota State on December 22.

Freshman guard Kelly Guarino, who is making a comeback from three ACL tears in high school, tops the Highlanders in three-point field goals made (31).  Guarino ranks tied for fifth in the conference in three-pointers made and fourth in three-point field goal percentage at 40.3 percent (31-for-77). 

Point guard Alana Dudley has recorded at least one assist in 14 games this season, including a personal-best 8 vs. College of St. Joseph (VT) on November 28, 2015.  The junior is tied for sixth in the conference.
 
NJIT LEADERS
Points: Leah Horton (11.6 ppg)
Rebounds: Leah Horton (7.8 rpg)
Field Goal Percentage: Leah Horton (60-for-134; .448)
3-Point FG Made: Kelly Guarino (31)
Assists: Alana Dudley (44)
Steals: Leah Horton (19)

NEXT UP
NJIT will conclude its non-conference schedule on Monday, January 11 with a trip to Columbia at 7pm.  Columbia leads the all-time series 2-0.

How to watch NJIT sports programming on ESPN3
ESPN3 is the live platform for at least 14 NJIT women's basketball games this season.
 
Starting in January, every NJIT game played in the Atlantic Sun Conference, home and away, throughout the regular season and into the A-Sun postseason tournament will be covered on ESPN3. 
 
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network.  It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. 
 
The network is currently available to more than 99 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. 
 
ESPN3 is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks. That means devices served by NJIT's on-campus computer network can link directly to ESPN3.
 
Others can access ESPN3 through WatchESPN if they receive ESPN programming from an affiliated service provider. Those users need to provide the username and password they use in online communication with their regular service provider (can usually be found on regular billing material from the service provider).