NJIT Highlights vs. Rider

NEWARK, NJ—Rider's Lea Favre led all scorers with 22 points en route to a 79-64 road victory over NJIT Saturday afternoon in non-conference women's basketball action at the Wellness and Events Center.

In addition to Favre's game-high 22 points, Kamila Hoskova, reigning MAAC Player of the Week netted 17 points and Stella Johnson added 16 points.  Favre combined for 8-of-10 from the field and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.  Johnson finished 6-of-r8 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

Sophomore forward Aubre Johnson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, as the Broncs held a 29-to-21 advantage on the boards.  Hoskova dished out a game-best six assists as the Broncs combined for 18 assists in the game.

NJIT's Ellyn Stoll registered a career-best 20 points, combining for 5-for-8 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity strip.  Guards Amarri Trueheart and Tatianna Torres each chipped in 10 points respectively for the Highlanders.  Torres led NJIT with six rebounds.

Rider took control of the game early, 10-5, led by Kamila Hoskova with four points at the 5:55 mark.  NJIT pulled within three of the visitors, 12-9, after a jumper in the paint by Amarri Trueheart.  NJIT used an 11-0 spurt to extend its lead to 14, 23-9.  Hoskova led the quarter with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.

The Highlanders started off the second quarter on a 6-2 spurt, cutting the Broncs deficit to 10, 25-15.  Freshmen Ellyn Stoll knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key with less than seven minutes to play and Trueheart followed with a jumper, for a 27-19 score.  Torres made one-of-two from the free throw line, slimming the lead to single digits, nine, 29-20, with less than four to play.  Trueheart brought NJIT to within seven, 29-22, on a jumper outside the key at 2:12.  The Broncs used an 8-0 run to close out the first half with a 37-24 advantage.

Rider's Stella Johnson led all scorers with 12 points followed by Hoskova with 10 points and a game-high six rebounds.  Trueheart led NJIT with eight points on 3-of-3 from the field.

NJIT scored the first six points of the third quarter and redshirt junior Kelly Guarino started heating up knocking down three three-pointers, scoring all of her nine points in the quarter, bringing the Highlanders within 10, 48-38, at the 3:01 mark.  NJIT's Jillian Libby brought the Highlander lead down to nine, 52-43, after an old fashion three-point play with twenty-three seconds.  After a pair of missed by the Broncs, NJIT's Ellyn Stoll dribbled the distance of the court to score the final points of the third quarter, pulling within to seven, 52-45.

Rider poured in 27 fourth quarter points and took its largest lead of the game, 19, 69-50, at the 4:32 mark on a three-pointer by Lexi Stover.  NJIT's Stoll scored the final seven-out-of-eight points in last 1:44 to lead the Highlanders with a team-high 20 points.

The Broncs shot 59.6 percent from the field (28-for-47) while the Highlanders shot 39.6 percent (19-for-48).  The Broncs shot an impressive 90.9 percent (28-for-47) from the free throw line as the Highlanders combined for 80 percent (20-for-25).

NJIT will host a two-day Holiday Tournament on December 28-29 in the Wellness and Events Center.  The Highlanders will host first-time opponent Long Beach State on December 28 at 5pm.  Long Beach State advanced to the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, crowned Big West Champions and finished with 23 wins.

The Highlanders will either face VCU or UPenn on December 29.  VCU won 16 games last season while the Quakers were crowned Ivy League champions for the second straight season and secured their third bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament in the last four years.