NJIT Highlights vs. Penn - 12.29.17

NEWARK, NJ—Penn's Eleah Parker registered a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds as the visiting Quakers cruised to a 77-38 victory over NJIT in the championship game of the 2017 NJIT Basketball Holiday Tournament at the Wellness and Events Center Friday evening.

Penn, who won its fourth straight game, improves to 6-4 on the season while the Highlanders (2-12) finished 1-1 in the Holiday Tournament.  NJIT picked up a 73-57 victory over Long Beach State in the opening game of the tournament.

Parker, the Quaker freshmen, was selected Most Valuable Player of the Tournament while Lauren Whitlatch joined Parker as a member of the All-Tournament team. 

In addition to Parker's 16 points, Whitlatch and Beth Brzozowski netted 12 points apiece while Michelle Nwokedi chipped in 10 points.  Whitlatch and Brzozowski connected on eight of the Quakers 13 three-pointers.

Parker's nine rebounds paced the game as the Quakers held a 45-to-29 advantage on the boards over the home team.  As a team, Penn dished out 20 assists, led by Anna Ross with six and Nwokedi with five.

NJIT's Ellyn Stoll, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament team, led the Highlanders with nine points on 3-of-5 from behind the arc while adding three rebounds.  Redshirt junior Kelly Guarino added eight points and Tatianna Torres and Dez Allen chipped in six points apiece.

Allen and Torres led the Highlanders on the boards with five each.  Point guard Amber Morgan posted three assists.

Penn took control early in the first quarter 15-2 led by Eleah Park with eight points.   NJIT's Ellyn Stoll connected on back-to-back three-pointers, cutting the lead to 15-8 at the 3:42 mark.  The Highlanders rallied back to close out the quarter on a 7-1 run to close the Quakers gap to five, 20-15.

The Quakers outscored the Highlanders in the second quarter, 20-5, and closed out the stanza on a 12-0 for a 40-20 advantage to head into halftime.

Penn's Eleah Brzozowski led all scorers with 16 points and seven rebounds while NJIT's Ellyn Stoll netted nine points (all from behind the arc).

The visitors continued its momentum into the third quarter, registering 15 of the 19 third-quarter points from behind the arc extending its lead to 59-31.

The Highlanders will wrap up non-conference action on January 3 at 11:30am, hosting Cornell on Education Day.

NJIT will begin ASUN Conference action on Saturday, January 6, welcoming USC Upstate at 1pm in the Wellness and Events Center.

2017 Holiday Basketball All-Tournament Team
Penn (MVP) - #31 Eleah Parker
Penn - #21 Lauren Whitlatch
NJIT - #44 Ellyn Stoll
VCU - #24 Tera Reed
Long Beach State - #23 Cecily Wilson