Game 25	Kennesaw State (6-16, 5-3 ASUN) at NJIT (10-13, 3-5 ASUN)
Date | Time	Wednesday, February 8, 2017 | 7 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	KSU leads, 3-0 | KSU 75, NJIT 64 (2.2.17)
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | KSU Notes

NJIT (10-13, 3-5 ASUN) will look for a split with Kennesaw State (6-16, 5-3 ASUN) on Wednesday when the Highlanders host the Owls at 7pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.

With a win on Wednesday….
-- NJIT will pick up its first all-time win against Kennesaw State
-- NJIT will split the regular season series with the Owls; Owls defeated NJIT on February 2 in Kennesaw, Georgia, 75-64
-- NJIT will record its fourth victory of the season in ASUN Conference action

Wednesday will mark the Annual Play4Kay game with donations being accepted to help fight breast cancer.  Donate and receive an NJIT pink eye sticker; donate $20 or more and get a raffle for a $50 gift card to Best Buy and a signed basketball by the women's basketball team.

About Play 4Kay
Play 4Kay game efforts were started by the late Kay Yow, the former North Carolina State University women's head basketball coach. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and fought the disease three times until her death in 2009. While courageously battling cancer,  Yow started the Kay Yow Cancer Fund which serves to raise money for scientific research and to assist the efforts to fight against women's cancers. To date, the fund has grown nationwide and contributed over $5.2 million to support cancer research.

WATCH LIVE ON 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.

Starting in January, every NJIT game played in the ASUN Conference, home and away, throughout the regular season and into the ASUN postseason tournament will be covered on ESPN3.

ALL TIME SERIES
Wednesday's game marks the fourth all-time meeting between the two teams, with Kennesaw State leading the series, 3-0.  Kennesaw State used a 15-2 spurt to open the fourth quarter and combined for 30 points in the final stanza, securing a 75-64 victory on February 2.

In the first all-time meeting in 2015-16, Kennesaw State topped NJIT, 64-48, in Kennesaw, Georgia, while the two teams played a double-overtime contest in Newark on February 6, with the Owls coming out on top 82-77.

In the double overtime loss, the Highlanders, despite playing without leading scorer and rebounder Leah Horton, who was out with an injury, gave a valiant effort behind career-best performances from sisters Alana Dudley (24 points) and Olivia Dudley (18 points), before, falling to Kennesaw State.

A LOOK AT THE OWLS
Winners of four straight, the Owls are coming off a 74-67 win over USC Upstate Saturday at the KSU Convocation Center.

A win over NJIT will give the Owls their first five-game winning streak since they won a Division I program-record seven straight during the 2014-15 season.

A victory over the Highlanders will also give KSU its first five-game ASUN Conference winning streak, and equal its conference win total (6-8) from a year ago while tying for the most victories since the ASUN went to a 14-game schedule for the 2014-15 season.

Kennesaw State is averaging 65.6 points a game, and has two players - Deandrea Sawyers (17.5) and Carlotta Gianolla (12.4) – scoring in double figures in its last eight games.

Senior Sawyers leads KSU with 12 double-digit scoring games and ranks No. 2 on the program's all-time Division I scoring list with 1,281.  In the last six games, Sawyers is averaging 20.8 points and 8.0 rebounds a game. She is shooting 44.1 percent from the field, has scored 15 or more points in each game, including 20 or more points four times, and posted two double-doubles.

Freshman Gianolla is averaging 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, while shooting 53.3 percent from the field during the Owls' current four-game winning streak.

Gianolla was honored for her impressive performance during last week's sweep of NJIT and USC Upstate by being named the ASUN Conference Newcomer of the Week.  It marks the second time this year she has been honored. The Owls' rookie averaged a double-double, scoring 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, while connecting on 56.3 percent of her field goal attempts. Gianolla posted a double-double against NJIT (Feb. 2), scoring 12 points and totaling a career-high 14 rebounds. She followed that effort with 15 points and six rebounds versus USC Upstate on Saturday (Feb. 4).

A LOOK AT NJIT
NJIT recorded its first ASUN Conference road victory last Saturday, 76-53, at Lipscomb. The Highlanders' previous three conference wins had all come at home. It also was the first series sweep since joining the ASUN in 2015-16.

The Highlanders picked up its 10th win of the season, first-ever ASUN Conference road win and regular season sweep at Lipscomb.

Senior guard Alana Dudley led four double-figure scorers with 18 points, including three three-pointers and a game-best six assists.  Redshirt sophomore Kelly Guarino netted 17 points, shooting 5-for-11 from downtown in addition to five rebounds and four steals.  Guarino has connected on 11 three-pointers in the last two games.

Dudley plays the most minutes of any ASUN player this season at 36.9 per game. She ranks first in conference play in three-point percentage at 52.2, and sixth in scoring at 14.5 points per game.

Senior forward Leah Horton is averaging 10.1 ppg, one of three Highlanders in double figures. The senior forward has three-straight double-digit scoring games for NJIT, and recorded her first double-double of the season, scoring 10 points 12 rebounds in first meeting with Kennesaw State.

Guarino has found her shooting touch over the past two contests as she connected 11 threes in road games at Kennesaw State and Lipscomb last week. The six made triples against Kennesaw State are her season-high – one shy her personal-best 7 at Virginia last season.

Redshirt sophomore Tatianna Torres is averaging 10.1 ppg and leads the ASUN in steals per game (2.4 spg).

NJIT is averaging 65.3 points per game in conference home games this season. They are 5-0 overall when reaching the 70-point mark this year, with four of those five coming at home this season. 

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.