NEWARK, NJ--After opening the 2018 season on the road with five straight, NJIT will play its first home game of the season on November 24 against Western Carolina, hosting the NJIT Thanksgiving Classic.
NJIT will host two first-time opponents Western Carolina from the Southern Conference on November 24 at 1pm and Southeast Missouri State from the Ohio Valley Conference on November 25 at 2pm.
Thanksgiving Classic Schedule
Saturday, November 24
NJIT vs. Western Carolina - 1pm - ESPN+
North Alabama vs. Southeast Missouri - 3pm - Highlanders Sports Network
Sunday, November 25
Western Carolina vs. North Alabama - 12pm - Highlanders Sports Network
NJIT vs. Southeast Missouri - 2pm - ESPN+
Watch Game Live on ESPN+
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Michael Ventola, the voice of the Highlander women, will handle the play-by-play with and color analysis from Jheryl Wilson '11 -- the first Division-I 1,000-point scorer in NJIT men's basketball history.
A simple way to find ESPN+ is on NJIT's official athletics website, www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page under the headlines section, an upcoming events calendar lists scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the left of the event listing. That brings you to an ESPN+ portal where you can access the desired program.
All-Time Series
Western Carolina and Southeast Missouri State are first-time opponents for the Highlanders.
Last Time Out
Junior forward
Danielle Tunstall scored a team-best 15 points for visiting NJIT but it wasn't enough as Fairleigh Dickinson outscored the Highlanders, 17-3, in the fourth quarter on its way to a 64-43 win in non-conference women's basketball action at The Rothman Center.
Tunstall, the Highlanders only double-figure scorer, scored 15 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists. She finished 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from the free throw line.
The 5-foot-11 forward has scored in double-digits in three of the Highlanders first five games this season, including a double-double in the season opener against Saint Peter's (24pts, 14rbs) to pace the Highlanders in scoring at 11.0ppg.
A Look at the Highlanders
The Highlanders, still in search of its first win of the 2018 season and first under first-year head coach
Mike Lane.
Lane comes to NJIT after spending six seasons at Bucknell University as the top assistant coach, where he helped guide the Bison to a program-best 27-6 mark, Patriot League title and conference championship while earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
NJIT opened the season at Saint Peter's, dropping a 70-57 decision, despite a career-night for junior
Danielle Tunstall, who combined for a double-double, pouring in 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Guarino matched her career mark in points (24) at Howard in a 77-57 loss in Washington, DC. Guarino shot 6-for-13 from the field, 5-for-10 from three-point range and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in an impressive effort. Guarino last scored 24 points at North Florida on February 17, 2018.
NJIT faced No. 25 West Virginia in the Highlanders five-game stretch on the road, led by sophomore
Ellyn Stoll (14 points) and Guarino (12 points).
Tunstall added 10 points in the Highlanders 85-42 road loss at Penn.
Kelly Guarino shot 4-of-9 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. Tunstall shared game-high honors, grabbing eight rebounds.
Two Highlanders are averaging double-figures through five games, paced by Tunstall's 11.6ppg followed by Guarino (11.0 ppg). Sophomore
Ellyn Stoll is averaging 9.8ppg and has dished out 10 assists.. Tunstall sits atop the rebounding category, averaging 6.4rpg.
Scouting the Catamounts
Western Carolina enters the Thanksgiving Tournament with 1-5 record, the teams' lone win coming over Young Harris, 63-54, on November 12.
The Catamounts, still in search of its first road win, have dropped three consecutive, most recently at Tennessee Tech, 77-58, on November 19.
Freshman forward Gabby Smith posted the first double-double of her Catamount career with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Saturday will mark the first time the Catamounts have played in the state of New Jersey and the farthest North WCU has played in the women's basketball program.
Western Carolina has had at least one player score in double figures in five of the first six games of the season.
Freshman Jewel Smalls leads the Catamounts averaging 9.2 points per game. She is also the only player, so far this season, who has scored in double figures twice.
Western Carolina is a mixture of old and new as the team returns six players and welcomes six newcomers. Of the six newcomers, five are freshmen and there is one junior college transfer.
The Catamounts, who finished with a 4-25 overall record and 2-12 in the SoCon last season, was picked eighth in both the SoCon Coaches and Media Preseason poll.
Scouting the Redhawks
Southeast Missouri enters Saturday's contest against North Alabama with a 1-3 record.
Southeast Missouri started off the season (0-3) with losses at #6 Mississippi State (88-53, Nov. 6), Bradley (85-79, Nov. 10) and Southern Illinois (60-40, Nov. 14).
The Red Hawks are coming off an 81-71 victory against Western Illinois, for the first victory of the season. Tesia Thompson registered her fourth career double-double with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Thompson was one of four Redhawks scoring in double figures. Adrianna Murphy followed with 20 points, Carrie Shephard pitched in a career-high 16 points and Taelour Pruitt finished with 10 in the balanced effort.
Thompson was named to the 2018-19 Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Team while the Redhawks were selected to finish fifth after a 14-17, 9-9 campaign last year.
The 2017-18 OVC Freshman of the Year, Thompson, recorded 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in her rookie campaign. The Memphis, Tennessee native ended the season with 398 points, 164 rebounds, 51 steals, and 39 assists.
Thompson paces the Redhawks in three categories -- points per game (19.7), rebounds per game (7.3) and free throw percentage (.741; 20-27).
Tickets
Full season ticket packages, mini plans and group outings are available for purchase now at www.NJITTix.com. For more information, please call our ticket office via phone at 973-596-5555 or email at tickets@njit.edu.
