VIDEO: NJIT Highlights vs. No. 10 Notre Dame
VIDEO: ESPN+ Sam Kuperman and head coach Mike Lane Post Game
VIDEO: Presser with head coach Mike Lane
NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT women's basketball team dropped its first game of the season to visiting No. 10 Notre Dame, 104-57, Sunday afternoon inside the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.
Sunday marked the sixth time NJIT faced an ACC opponent and second time in program history, hosting an ACC opponent in Newark, NJ. NJIT hosted Clemson on January 2, 2014.
For the first time in women's basketball program history, the Highlanders have two USA TODAY Preseason Top-25 teams on the non-conference schedule. Notre Dame and Miami (FL), who NJIT will visit on December 3, rounded out the Top-25.
The attendance (1,631 fans) for Sunday's women's basketball game was the most fans during a regular home game, a non-Education Day game.
"The atmosphere was awesome inside the WEC today," said sixth-year head coach Mike Lane, who is a 1993 Notre Dame alum. "We haven't had this type of environment for a regular home game, a non-Education Day game. The lower bowl was filled. It was emotional. Notre Dame fans were into it. That made it feel like a real game, a league game. It wasn't just a Power 5 playing a mid-major. It was a great environment and glad so many people were able to watch it."
NJIT had two players reach double-digits, led by 2023 America East Rookie of the Year Alejandra Zuniga with 14 points and five rebounds followed by Lyzi Litwinko's 10 points.
Forward Trinity Williams added eight points while freshman Audrey Kormann added six points and four rebounds off the bench for NJIT.
"I think there were a lot of positives from this game," Lane added. "We did things in our offense even defensively well. If you can do that against Notre Dame, you can do that against any team on our schedule. There is a lot of take out of this game. Almost oddly, I feel better about today than I did Friday night (in the OT win over Merrimack)."
Notre Dame had five players reach double-figures led by 2023 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron who each combined for 26 points.
The Highlanders came out strong out of the gates only trailing by one, 14-13, at the first media timeout, behind five straight points from Alejandra Zuniga. Notre Dame went on a 6-2 run to push its lead to five, 20-15 and Zuniga's layup cut the lead down to three, 20-17, at the 1:30 mark.
NJIT's Aria Myers opened up the second quarter with a three-pointer and Zuniga connected on a jumper at the 8:18 mark for a four-point game, 28-24.
The Fighting Irish scored seven straight points to take a nine-point lead, 35-24 with 7:11 left to play. NJIT's Lyzi Litwinko scored four in a row to cut the Notre Dame lead to within seven, 35-28 but Notre Dame closed out the first half on a 13-0 run, taking a 52-29 lead.
Notre Dame continued its run to start the second half, pushing its lead up to 30+ ultimately earning a 104-57 road victory.
Next Up
The four-game homestead inside the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center continues with Rider on November 15 and Wagner on November 18.
Stay Connected
Stay up to date during the NJIT Women's Basketball season by following @NJITWBB on Twitter and Instagram and liking the NJIT Women's Basketball page on Facebook.
