NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT women's basketball team will return home for a pair of America East Conference games this week, first hosting UMass Lowell on Saturday at 3pm.

Game Information
Tip off is slated for 3pm inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center and will be streamed live on ESPN3 with in-game statistics available on NJITHighlanders.com.

All-Time Series
NJIT leads the all-time series, 5-4
First Meeting: January 1, 2023 | NJIT 60, UML 56
Looking for Season Series Sweep

Last Time Out
NJIT opened the month of February with a 70-67 America East victory at New Hampshire led by freshman Alejandra Zuniga's team-best 17 points Wednesday evening inside Lundholm Gymnasium.

NJIT, which earned the season series sweep over New Hampshire, picked up its fifth win in the America East, improving to 5-4 in the league and 10-11 overall.  

Tied at 53-all heading into the fourth quarter, New Hampshire took a three-point lead, 62-59, just under the four-minute mark.  NJIT knotted the game at 62 after three straight points by Maria Fux but the Wildcats would regain the lead, 64-62, on a bucket by Brooke Kane.  

NJIT's Kendle Dalrymple sank a three-pointer at the 1:21 mark for a 65-64 lead and Kenna Squier connected on a three-pointer of her own from the top of the arc for a three-point advantage, 68-65, with 1:00 left in regulation.  

New Hampshire pulled within one of the Highlanders, 68-67, but NJIT's Trinity Williams knocked down a pair of free throws with :13 seconds to give NJIT a 70-67 lead and held on for the road victory.  

America East Conference
NJIT will begin its third season in the America East and will play a schedule of 16 conference games against the other eight schools.  The Highlanders became the 10th full member of the America East on July 1, 2020 and were selected to finish fourth in the 2022-23 preseason coaches poll.

UMass Lowell was picked to finish sixth in the America East Conference in the league's preseason poll.

The Highlanders currently sit in fifth place in the America East standings with a 5-4 record with UML in ninth with a 1-9 mark.  This season, NJIT has wins over Binghamton, Bryant, UMass Lowell and season series sweep against New Hampshire.  The lone league win for the RiverHawks came against Bryant, 76-63, on January 22.

1K Milestone for Kenna Squier
Kenna Squier became the 12th player in the NJIT women's basketball history (5th in the NJIT Division I era) to reach the 1,000 career point milestone on Saturday, January 14 at UAlbany.  Squier currently sits with 1,017 points, which is 10th all-time.

On Monday, January 23, 2023, Squier, who scored over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds at Pope John High School had her jersey number (#24) retired. 

Scouting UMass Lowell
The River Hawks fell to 1-9 in conference play on Wednesday night after a hard-fought 57-49 battle at UAlbany. Jaini Edmonds tied her career-high with 18 points, leading the River Hawks in scoring. Kaylen Banwareesingh recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds on the night. Jaliena Sanchez scored nine points and dished out a team-high five assists. Ivory Finley and Amaya Dowdy combined to score 10 points in the loss.

Jaini Edmonds leads the River Hawks averaging 9.5 points per game this season. The junior has scored a team-high 189 points through 20 games. Amaya Dowdy has been a force in the paint all season, totaling 38 blocks to lead the team and the conference, averaging 1.9 per game. Kaylen Banwareesingh is shooting 40% from the field to lead the River Hawks. Jaliena Sanchez has been the main distributor for UMass Lowell, dishing out 74 assists this year, including eight against Brown and Bryant.

Next Up
NJIT will look to even the season series with UMBC on February 8 at 7pm inside the Wellness and Events Center.  UMBC sank a three-pointer with :04 left in regulation to earn a 61-60 victory over visiting NJIT on January 25 in Baltimore, MD.