Women's Basketball | 11/10/2016 11:59:00 AM
The NJIT women's basketball team will open the 2016-17 campaign on Saturday at 2pm when the Highlanders host Wagner in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
Game Live on ESPN3
The game will be shown live on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT home basketball games will be live on ESPN3).
A simple way to find ESPN3 is on NJIT's official athletics website, www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page NJIT TV section, click Upcoming Events for a list of scheduled NJIT contests. After finding
the event, click the camera icon to the right of the event listing. That brings you to an ESPN3 portal where you can access the desired program.
Michael Ventola, voice of the Highlanders, is on play-by-play with expert analysis from
Dave Calloway.
Outlook on NJIT
Fifth-year head coach
Steve Lanpher and his staff welcomes six newcomers to the roster, including eight letter winners.
NJIT welcomes back three key starters from last season, including point guard and ASUN Preseason All-Conference selection
Alana Dudley. Dudley led the team in assists (90) last year and looks to run the offense again in 2016-17.
Three-point specialist
Kelly Guarino is back for the Highlanders after finishing seventh in the ASUN with 62 made three pointers. Her 62 three-point baskets made in a single season, ranks third all-time in the Division I era at NJIT.
Leah Horton will anchor the paint again after scoring a team-high 10.7 ppg last season. The senior set a program-record 20 rebounds in the Highlanders first all-time win in ASUN Conference play, defeating Lipscomb, 61-51 on February 4.
2016 Top Returning Statistical Leaders
Scoring: Leah Horton (10.7),
Kelly Guarino (8.2),
Alana Dudley (7.3)
Rebounds: Leah Horton (7.6),
Maria Ruban (3.2)
Assists: Alana Dudley (3.1)
Look at the Newcomers
Taj Lewis, a Massachusetts native and transfer from Roxbury Community College, is a two-time first-team All-American (2014-15; 2015-16). Lewis guided the Lady Tigers to the 2015-16 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III National title, the first-ever national championship win for the Roxbury women's basketball program.
Lewis, a 1000-point scorer in two seasons at Roxbury Community College (1,166 career points), ranked fourth in the NJCAA Division III in scoring (23.4ppg) as a sophomore. During her freshman campaign, Lewis averaged 22.3 points per game, 8.9 rebounds, and shot 58 percent from the floor, helping the Lady Tigers to a Division III title game appearance in 2014-15, where Lewis was named NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball Player of the Year.
A 5-foot-10 wing, Lewis played at the power forward as a senior for Longmeadow High School, where she won the Vi Goodnow Award in 2014 as the top player in Western Massachusetts.
Amber Morgan, who graduated from North Lawrence High School in Indianapolis which has been a highly successful program, is a very accomplished point guard. Morgan was selected to the second-team All-Marion County and honorable mention All-State. She guided Lawrence North High School to a championship title defeating Roncalli, 62-59, at the 2014 Marion County Girls Basketball Tournament in 2014.
Amarri Trueheart, is a 2015 graduate of Cheltenham High School in Pennsylvania, about 10 miles north of Philadelphia, where she was both an accomplished student and an outstanding basketball player.
A two-time All-League Suburban One and first-team honoree as a senior, the 5-foot-3 Trueheart averaged 14.0 ppg in her final season at Cheltenham.
She spent a semester at UAlbany and wasn't eligible to compete for NJIT under NCAA rules governing transfers within Division I in 2015-16. Instead, she practiced with the Highlanders throughout the Spring 2016 and Fall 2016 semesters before becoming eligible for intercollegiate competition.
Danielle Tunstall from Willingboro, NJ, is an athletic player who will help the Highlanders in the open floor/transition game.
Hakilah Hudson, a forward from Virginia, was selected first-team All-Conference 11 for her play on the court as a senior at Henrico High School.
Tracey Brereton, a walk-on player and New Jersey native, was a four-year letter winner from Matawan Regional High School. She was selected Class B North first-team All-Division (2015), second-team All-Division (2016), third-team All-Group 2 and third-team All-Monmouth County (2015).
All-Time Series vs. the Seahawks
NJIT leads the series, 5-4, with Wagner topping the Highlanders, 76-53, in the last meeting on December 2, 2015 in Staten Island. NJIT won the meeting in 2014 in Newark, 60-54, paced by
Leah Horton's 15 points, 12 in the first half, and eight rebounds.
New Faces on the Sideline
Lifelong New Jersey resident
Bob Dubina, comes to NJIT immediately after a successful run as the head coach of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ. His record as head coach at Brookdale from 2011-16 was 115 wins and 37 losses, including 20-11 in 2015-16. Dubina, who was honored as Region XIX Coach of the Year in 2013-14, coached one All-America and nine all-region players in his tenure at Brookdale.
Alumnae
Rayven Johnson, who led NJIT to the Women's Basketball Championship of the Great West Conference in her final college game in 2013, played professionally for three seasons (2013-2016) in Hannover, Germany with TK Hannover, returns back to NJIT, this time on the sidelines, as an assistant coach.
Johnson was named 2013 Great West Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player following NJIT's title win, completing her college career with 1,248 points (second all-time in NJIT's Division I era and fourth overall for a program that competed in Division II and Division III before moving to the NCAA's top level in 2006-07).
Next Time Out
NJIT will host non- Division I foe, St. Joseph's College – Brooklyn on November 15 at 7pm.
Wellness & Events Center
Next season, the Highlanders will open a state-of-the-art $102 million facility – nicknamed the "WEC" – which will feature a 3,500-seat basketball arena and compare favorably with many Division I mid-major facilities throughout the country, allowing NJIT to continue to grow their men's and women's basketball programs.
The WEC will be three stories high and its north side will be all windows, through which natural light will flood into the building. The tall windows will overlook the new athletic field, which will open in Fall 2018.
ASUN Conference
The Highlanders, who became the eighth full member of the A-Sun effective July 1, 2015, will begin its second season in the ASUN Conference, will have 14 games, home-and-away, against the other seven conference teams, four of which played in the 2016 post-season.
Fans can get ready for over 120 broadcasts involving league teams during the 2016-17 season. A total of 125 ASUN Women's Basketball games will be broadcasted live on ESPN3, including every conference regular season and ASUN Championship game. It marks the third consecutive season that all league games will be produced on-campus live on ESPN3.
Outlook on Wagner
Wagner, under the direction of first-year head coach Heather Jacobs, was introduced as the ninth head coach in Wagner College in April 2016.
Widely regarded as a rising star in the coaching profession, Jacobs has served the last six seasons as head coach at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, where she led the Panthers to unprecedented success during her tenure.
The high water mark for Jacobs at Adelphi came in 2014-15 when she led her team to a 28-4 record and an 18-2 mark in the NE-10 Conference, claiming the program's first-ever league championship and hosting the NCAA Division II East Regional. Adelphi was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation and tied a program record for most wins in a season, and Jacobs earned ECAC Division II and All-Met Coach of the Year honors by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA).
The Seahawks return five letter winners and will add eight newcomers, six of whom will be freshmen in 2016-17.
Senior forward Jackie Dluhi, a starter in 28 games, top game in 2015-16, came against the Highlanders, where she set a career-high 17 points with six field-goals made.
In the front court, Taylor Butigan, standing at 6-foot-1, saw action in 22 games, with one start, recording a season-best 12 points against Delaware State.
Junior guard Tanasia Russell, who came off the bench last season for Wagner, averaged 5.6 ppg and 2.0 rpg in 15.6 minutes of action.
Sophomore guard Julia McClure saw action in 20 games, combined for a career-best 15 points at St. Francis Brooklyn. Junior forward Samantha Sullivan has seen action in 50 games, during her two-year stint as a Seahawk.
NEC Preseason Poll
Wagner, which finished 2015-16 with a 5-24 overall mark, 3-15 in the NEC, was selected to finish 10
th out of 10 teams in the preseason coaches poll.
2016 Top Returning Statistical Leaders
Scoring: Tanasia Russell (5.6ppg), Jackie Dluhi (4.3 ppg)
Rebounds: Tanasia Russell (2.0ppg), Jackie Dluhi (3.6 ppg)
