NJIT Highlights
BURLINGTON, VT–Kenna Squier scored a team-best 18 points but it wasn't enough as Vermont extended its win streak to 12 games with an 85-73 home victory over visiting NJIT Saturday afternoon in America East Conference women's basketball action inside Patrick Gymnasium.
The Catamounts have now won 12 consecutive games, improving to 12-2 in the America East and 20-6 overall while the Highlanders move to 8-6 in the league and 13-13 overall.
Vermont had three players reach double-figures led by Delaney Richason and Emma Utterback who shared game-high honors with 21 points followed by Anna Olson's 15 points. Catherine Gilwee paced the game with 10 rebounds as the Catamounts out-rebounded the Highlanders 35-to-27.
The Highlanders were led by Squier, who combined for a team-best 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field followed by Trinity Williams (15 points) and Alejandra Zuniga (13 points). Zuniga led the Highlanders on the glass with six rebounds and dished out four assists. Kiana Brereton came off the bench and chipped in nine points in 11 minutes of action.
NJIT scored the first bucket of the game and went ahead 4-2 early but Vermont used a 12-0 run over the next 3:00 to take a 13-4 lead, resulting in an NJIT timeout at the 6:37 mark. NJIT scored four straight points to cut the Catamount lead to five, 13-8. Vermont scored the final six points of the first quarter for a 25-12 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
The Highlanders opened the second quarter on a 17-8 run, behind a quick 8-0 run, capped by a layup by Alejandra Zuniga at the 4:39 mark for a 33-29 score. Vermont pushed its lead back up to double-digits, 10, 39-29, with less than three minutes to go. Kendle Dalrymple's three-pointer sparked a 6-2 run as the Highlanders cut the Vermont deficit to six, 41-35, with a minute left in the first half.
After the first 20 minutes, NJIT's Alejandra Zuniga led the Highlanders with 10 points followed by Trinity Williams (9) and Kenna Squier (8) while Vermont's Emma Utterback led all scorers in the first half with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field.
Vermont came out on first to start the third stanza, scoring the first nine points of the contest for a 53-37 advantage. Kenna Squier scored the first points of the second half for NJIT on a turnaround jumper and Trinity Williams followed with a left-handed layup off an in-bounds play, cutting the Catamount lead to 12, 53-41. The Highlanders cut the Catamount lead to 10 on a driving left-handed jumper by Squier with time expiring on the clock for a 64-54 score.
Squier scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, slimming Vermont's lead to single digits, 64-58, at the 8:23 mark. Kiana Brereton's straight-away three-pointer at the 7:30 mark, slimmed the Vermont lead to five, 66-61. Vermont pushed its lead back to double-digits, 14, 77-63, behind an 11-2 spurt, heading into the under-five minute timeout and never looked back, registering an 85-73 home victory.
NJIT will conclude the road portion of the America East Conference schedule on Wednesday, February 22 at 7pm when the Highlanders visit Bryant.
Earlier this season, Five Highlanders scored in double-figures paced by freshman Alejandra Zuniga's game-tying 19 points as NJIT rallied back down by as many as 18 in a come-from-behind overtime win over visiting Bryant, 71-67, in a Wednesday America East Conference matinee inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center on Education Day.
Down by as many as 18, NJIT rallied back to cut the Bulldog lead to single digits eight, 43-35, paced by eight straight points by Zuniga at the 4:08 mark of the third quarter. Bryant pushed its advantage back to double-digits to take a 16-point lead, 54-38 just under one-minute. An old-fashioned three-point play by Aria Myers sparked a 5-2 run for NJIT to close out the third quarter down by 12, 55-43.
NJIT came out on fire in the fourth quarter, scoring nine straight, pulling within three of Bryant, 55-52 capped by a pair of free throws by Zuniga. The Bulldogs pushed its advantage to five, 59-54 at the 3:24 mark. NJIT scored eight straight points, knotting the game at 59-all after a steal and layup by Zuniga and went ahead for the first time in the second half, 62-59 on a three-point play by Trinity Williams. Bryant called for a timeout with less than :30 left to go in regulation and would tie the game at 62-62 on a three-pointer by Alanda Perkins with :22 on the clock. The Bulldog defense forced a missed shot by the Highlanders in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.
