BURLINGTON, VT–Visiting NJIT fell at Vermont, 76-51, Thursday evening in women's basketball America East Conference action inside Patrick Gymnasium.
Vermont, which moved back to the win column, improves to 16-8 overall, 8-2 in the league and a perfect 5-0 inside Patrick Gymnasium while the Highlanders move to 8-14 overall, 0-9 in the America East.
The Catamounts Emma Utterback, a four-time America East Conference honoree, led all scorers with a game-best 23 points followed by Delaney Richason with 13 points.
NJIT's lone double-figure scorer on the night was Alejandra Zuniga, 2023 America East Rookie of the Year, who netted a team-best 15 points on 5-of-10 from the field, 2-for-4 from three-point range and 3-of-6 from the free throw line. Zuniga dished out a game-best five assists and shared game-high honors with three steals.
Senior Lyzi Litwinko combined for nine points and seven rebounds and graduate student Kenna Squier chipped in eight points. Trinity Williams and Avery O'Roke each registered six points.
NJIT connected on back to back three-pointers by Lyzi Litwinko and Alejandra Zuniga for a 12-9 lead at the 3:22 mark in the first quarter. NJIT went ahead 14-11 on a pair of free throws by Zuniga but Vermont took its first lead of the contest, 15-14, on a jumper by Emma Utterback at the 1:04 mark. A layup by Kiana Brereton saw the Highlanders take a one-point lead, 16-15, after the first 10 minutes.
Vermont, who outscored NJIT in the second quarter, 20-12, took its biggest lead of the contest, 29-21, behind an 8-2 run at the 5:11 mark. NJIT used a quick 5-2 run to pull within five, 33-28, on a layup from Lyzi Litwinko just below the two minute mark.
Vermont's Emma Utterback led all players with 13 points while NJIT had three players – Kenna Squier, Alejandra Zuniga and Lyzi Litwinko each combined for eight points.
The Catamounts opened up the third quarter on a 7-2 run and extended its lead to as many as 18, outscoring NJIT, 20-9, taking a 55-37 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Vermont continued its momentum into the final quarter, scoring 21 fourth-quarter points. NJIT's Avery O'Roke connected on back-to-back three-pointers midway through the quarter, trimming the deficit to 19, 66-47, but it was too much to overcome as the Catamounts registered a 76-51 victory.
NJIT will continue its two-game America East Conference road swing, visiting UMass Lowell on Saturday, February 10 at 1pm on ESPN+.
In the first meeting in Newark on January 11, UMass Lowell defeated NJIT, 70-67, using an early fourth quarter run to top the Highlanders.
The River Hawks came out on fire in the fourth quarter, using a 13-4 spurt behind three triples from Cire Worley to give UMass Lowell a 66-61 lead, resulting in a Highlanders timeout at the 5:03 mark.
NJIT scored the next six straight points to go up by one, 67-66, at the 2:11 mark. UMass Lowell answered on the opposite end with a layup by Rayne Durant for a one-point lead, 68-67 at the 1:08 mark.
The River Hawks sank two free throws with nine seconds left to go and held a three-point lead, 70-67. NJIT came out of a timeout with 1.6 seconds left and Alejandra Zuniga put up a near half court shot for the tie but was off the mark and UMass Lowell picked up its second America East Conference road win with a 70-67 victory.
