NEWARK, NJ—NJIT will welcome Cornell on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at the Wellness and Events Center on Education Day.
EDUCATION DAY
NJIT Athletics invites schools to participate in a fun and Educational Day filled with basketball and learning. Each school will be given a tour of the NJIT campus, including a 10-minute lecture from special departments teaching students about college life.
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 will mark the third all-time meeting between the two teams. Cornell leads the series, 2-0. The last time the two teams met, Cornell came out on top, 75-60, on January 5, 2008.
Scouting the Big Red
After four consecutive losses, including two in overtime, the Cornell earned a dominating 71-53 victory over UMass-Lowell on New Year's Eve, improving to 3-9 on the season.
Samantha Widmann led all scorers with 17 points and finished with a team-high eight rebounds, while Janee Dennis (12), and Samantha Clement (11) both finished in double digits. Dennis (4-7) and Clement (3-4) combined to go 7-of-11 from beyond the arc as the Big Red connected on 45.5 percent from 3-point range for the game.
Widmann is the only double-digit scorer for the Big Red, averaging 14.9ppg and paces the team with 32 steals. Forward Elodie Furey tops the team on the glass (6.5rpg) and blocks (14).
Three-point threats Clement and Dennis have connected on 37 three-point field goals this season, including 7-of-11 against UMass-Lowell.
Preseason Ivy League Coaches' Poll
Cornell was picked sixth out of eight teams overall in the Ivy League Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Big Red placed fourth last year in the Ivy League standings with a record of 16-11 overall and 7-7 in the league.
A Look at NJIT
NJIT enters Wednesday's contest with a 2-12 overall record. The Highlanders most recently hosted the first-ever tournament (Holiday Basketball Tournament) in the WEC last weekend after going 1-1 with a win over Big West opponent Long Beach State (73-57) on December 28.
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 against Penn in the championship game. Redshirt junior
Kelly Guarino added eight points and
Tatianna Torres and
Dez Allen chipped in six points apiece.
Torres paces the Highlanders in three categories – scoring (11.9ppg), assists (40) and steals (28).
Guarino, who has played in five games this season since returning back to the court after a knee injury, ranks second on the team in scoring (10.8ppg) and three-point field goals made (14).
Stoll, the Highlanders freshmen, who has made an immediate impact to the Highlanders starting lineup, is averaging 9.9ppg and leads the Highlanders with 26 three-point field goals made.
Danielle Tunstall tops the team on the boards with 6.0rpg and senior forward
Taj Lewis is shooting an impressive 51 percent from the field (57-112), which leads the ASUN Conference.
Wellness and Events Center
NJIT celebrated a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on November 10, 2017 to open the new state-of-the-art Wellness and Events Center 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 third season in the ASUN Conference, will have 15 games, home-and-away, against the other seven conference teams, three of which played in the 2017 post-season.
NJIT was selected sixth in the 2017 Preseason ASUN Conference poll, combining for 21 points ahead of USC Upstate (19 points) and Lipscomb (14 points).
After winning last year's ASUN Conference women's basketball championship title, FGCU was picked to repeat by the league's head coaches in the 2017-18. The Eagles garnered six first-place votes among the head coaches in the league, while also being selected first in the media poll.
Next Up
NJIT concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule and opens up the 2018 ASUN Conference campaign on Saturday, January 6 at 1pm vs. USC Upstate as part of a doubleheader with the NJIT men. Tipoff for the men is set for 4pm vs. the Spartans from USC Upstate.
Keeping It Social
Keep up with the latest news about NJIT Highlanders by liking the Highlanders official Facebook page: NJIT Highlanders Athletics. For live in-game updates and news, follow @NJITHighlanders on Twitter. Want to see photos and behind-the-scenes action? Give @NJITHighlanders a follow on Instagram and SnapChat!
