Women's Basketball | 2/24/2017 9:00:00 AM

Game 29	USC Upstate (9-19, 2-11 ASUN) at NJIT (10-18, 3-10 ASUN)
Date | Time	Saturday, February 25, 2017 | 1 p.m.
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Fleisher Athletic Center (1,500)
Live Video | Live Audio	ESPN3, streaming telecast (WatchESPN app, www.WatchESPN.com) Michael Ventola (play-by-play); David Gass (color)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Social Media	@njithighlanders
All-time series | Last Meeting	USC Upstate leads, 3-0 | USC Upstate 75, NJIT 58 (1.7.17
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | USC Upstate Notes

NEWARK, NJ—NJIT (10-18, 3-10 ASUN) will close out the regular season against USC Upstate (9-19, 3-10 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon in the Fleisher Athletic Center with opening tip set for 1 p.m.

Prior to the game, NJIT will honor the senior class—Alana Dudley, Leah Horton, Maria Ruban, Camerin Spahn and Ruta Vetra.

With a win on Saturday…
--NJIT will be the #5 seed in the 2017 ASUN Conference Tournament (in addition to a UNF loss at Jacksonville)
--NJIT will snap a five-game skid; last win at Lipscomb (1/28)
--Pick up the program's first all-time win against USC Upstate
--Record its fourth victory of the season in the ASUN Conference
--Record its 11th overall win, which will be the second-highest win total in the last three seasons

ASUN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The eight-team, three-round ASUN Women's Basketball Tournament spans from March 3-12 and will be held on campus sites. The quarterfinals begin on March 3 and the semifinals on March 8. The 2017 Tournament Champion will be crowned on March 12.

ESPN3
The game will be shown live on ESPN3 (all remaining NJIT home basketball games can be seen 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, the voice of the Highlanders, is on play-by-play with expert analysis from David Gass.

The ASUN postseason tournament will be covered on ESPN3.

ALL-TIME SERIES
USC Upstate leads the all-time series, 3-0.  The Spartans defeated NJIT, 75-58, on January 7 and twice in the inaugural season of the ASUN Conference.

A LOOK AT USC UPSTATE
USC Upstate, who advanced to the semifinals of the WBI Tournament a season ago, finished with 22 wins, the most in the programs Division I era and third-most in program history.

The Spartans, who have dropped its previous five games, most recently, 77-55, against Stetson, enter Saturday's contest with a 9-19 overall mark, 2-11 in the ASUN.  USC Upstate last won against Lipscomb, 76-53, on February 4.

USC Upstate is led by senior guard Raven Jefferson, who is the lone player on the Spartan roster to average double-digits at 14.9 ppg, which ranks third in the ASUN.  She has recorded double-digit scoring in 24-out-of-28 games this season, one 30-point performance. Jefferson has connected on 50 three-pointers and her 37.9 percentage from behind the arc ranks fourth.

Freshman center Riley Popplewell sits atop the team with 139 rebounds (5.0 rpg) and 17 blocks.

A LOOK AT NJIT
NJIT will be playing its final regular season game and final women's basketball game in the Fleisher Athletic Center on Saturday.  The Highlanders are looking to return back into the win column.

The Highlanders are coming off a 77-46 loss against FGCU on Monday evening.  Freshman forward Danielle Tunstall posted her fourth double-double of the season, netting 11 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, which ties her career-best mark.

Alana Dudley is averaging 11.5 ppg and has dished out 103 assists, which ranks the senior third on the NJIT D1 single-season record list, 24 shy the current record, 127, held by Alyssa Albanese.

Redshirt sophomore Tatianna Torres is the Highlanders second-leading scorer at 10.0 ppg.  Her 63 steals on the season ranks in the top 60 in the NCAA, is the league leader and holds the NJIT D1 single-season record.

Highlander three-point threat Kelly Guarino ranked fourth in the ASUN in three-pointers per game (2.2) and paces NJIT with 55.  Guarino is averaging 8.2 ppg and has connected on 21 in the last seven games.