Highlights

LOWELL, MA - The NJIT women's basketball team saw its 2020-21 season come to an end on Sunday, falling to UMass Lowell 72-52 in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 Hercules Tires America East Playoffs. 

NJIT, the sixth seed in the tournament, concludes the season with a 4-14 record, while the third-seeded River Hawks are now 12-8 and advance to next weekend's semifinal against second-seeded Stony Brook.

Sunday's game was the first in three weeks for the Highlanders and just the second since January 24 in what has been a very unique season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

"I'm incredibly proud of our student-athletes for making it through the season, it truly hasn't been easy," said third-year Head Coach Mike Lane. "Our girls have been so focused all year and it's why they've made it to the finish line without any pauses within our program. I just told them in the locker room that in 20-30 years they are going to have a good story to tell their children and loved ones when asked about the Pandemic."

NJIT led 15-12 after the first quarter and 25-22 late in the second, but UMass Lowell closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 28-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The River Hawks picked up where they left off in the third quarter, extending the margin to as many as 15 late in the quarter, but this time it was NJIT which made a late run and cut the deficit to single digits, 51-42, on a layup from Kimi Evans just before the buzzer sounded to end the frame.

The Highlanders were able to get within six on a free throw from Kiana Brereton with 6:42 to play, but it was all UML from there as the hosts went on a 15-0 run to put the game away and make the final margin 20 points. 

Brereton, a freshman from Brooklyn, scored 12 points Sunday, two off of her career-high, and set new career-bests with six rebounds and three blocks.

"Kiana has improved so much this season and showed flashes today of what we expect from her going forward," added Lane. "She was confident out there today."

Brereton was joined in double figures by sophomore Kenna Squier (12 points, six rebounds) and Lyzi Litwinko (10 points, six rebounds).

Tiahna Sears paced four River Hawks in double figures with a game-high 15 points.