Game 4	NJIT (3-0, 0-0 America East) at Minnesota (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Date | Time	Friday, November 14, 2025 | 5pm(CT)/6pm(ET)
Team Rosters	NJIT | Minnesota
Location | Arena	Minneapolis, MN | Williams Arena
All-Time Series	Minnesota leads 1-0
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Live Video	B1G+
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | Minnesota Notes

 

Game 5	NJIT (3-0, 0-0 America East) vs. St. Thomas (0-2, 0-0 Summit)
Date | Time	Sunday, November 16, 2025 | 1pm(CT)/2pm(ET)
Team Rosters	NJIT | St. Thomas
Location | Arena	St. Paul, MN | The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena
All-Time Series	First meeting
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Live Video	Midco Sports Plus
Game Notes	NJIT Notes | St. Thomas Notes

​NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT women's basketball team will head to Minnesota for a pair of games this weekend playing at Minnesota (Nov. 14) and St. Thomas (Nov. 16).

Game Information
At Minnesota
Tip off is slated for 5pm (CT)/6pm(ET) inside Williams Arena on B1G+ with in-game statistics available on GopherSports.com . 

At St. Thomas
Tip off is slated for 1pm(CT)/2pm(ET) inside Lee and Perry Anderson Arena on Midco Sports Plus with in-game statistics available on TommiesSports.com. 

Quick Hits
–NJIT has started the 2025 season 3-0 for the first time in program history
–The three wins have come at Sacred Heart and Fordham and home opening victory against Wagner
--In the last four seasons, NJIT has won the season opener and started 1-0.
--During the 2023-24 season, NJIT started out the year 4-1 with its lone coming against No. 10 ranked Notre Dame.

All-Time Series vs. Minnesota
Minnesota leads the all-time series, 1-0.   The last time the two teams met was on December 28, 2015.

All-Time Series vs. St. Thomas
Sunday will mark the first all-time meeting between the two teams.

Last Time Out
The NJIT women's basketball team had four players in double-digits led by junior guard Marissa Gingrich's career-best 23 points as the Highlanders picked up a 78-58 victory over visiting Wagner Tuesday evening in the home opener for the Highlanders inside the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.

In addition to Gingrich's 23 points, Olivia Kulyk scored 20 points, Madilyn Dogs (12) and Allison Cannon (10).  

Gingrich, the 5-foot-7 guard, led the Highlanders with seven rebounds and dished out three assists while shooting 10-for-15 from the field.  Kulyk went 7-for-14 from the field and finished 6-of-9 from downtown.  Cannon came off the bench and chipped in 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, pulling down five rebounds in 23 minutes.

New Career-High - Olivia Kulyk
The reigning America East Conference Rookie of the Year Kulyk set a new personal-best mark at Fordham from the Atlantic 10, netting 25 points on 5-of-6 shooting from downtown in the Highlanders 82-78 road victory on November 7, 2025.  In the next game against Wagner in the Highlanders home opener, Kulyk combined for her second straight 20-point performance, going 6-for-9 from three-point range. 

Rising Junior Marissa Gingrich
Gingrich, the Highlanders point guard, is off to a hot start in 2025, scoring in double-figures in the first three contests of the season, including a personal-best performance against Wagner, netting 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field.

Highlanders News & Notes
–Senior Alejandra Zuniga was selected to the America East Preseason All-Conference team.   Last season, Zuniga was picked to the America East first team, as a sophomore she was named to the second team and during her freshman campaign, Zuniga earned America East Rookie of the Year, America East Third team, America East All-Rookie team honors. She is coming off a season which saw the Highlanders guard ranked third in the league in scoring (16.0ppg), third in assists (3.4), fifth in free throw percentage (65.0%) and fifth in field goal percentage (44.0%).
–The 2025 America East Rookie of the Year, Olivia Kulyk is back for her second season in a Highlander uniform after a strong freshman campaign which saw her be named a 10-time America East Rookie of the Week selection, which ties the America East Conference record, has scored in double-figures in 19 contests, including a career-best 21 points and 12 rebounds against Binghamton on January 2, 2025. She ranked second in the league in three-point field goals per game (1.9) and 13th in the conference in scoring (9.7).
–NJIT returns 11 from a season ago after a fifth-place finish in the America East standings with an 11-19 overall mark, 8-8 in the league.  The 11 wins were the fourth straight double-digit win for the Highlanders in the last four years.
–Head Coach Mike Lane enters his eighth season at the helm of the Highlanders.

Making a Name in the Record Books
Zuniga, from Madrid, Spain, is a three-time America East Conference All-Conference selection, and has scored 1,315 career points which ranks her third in the Division I era at NJIT and fifth all-time.  The all-time leading scorer at NJIT is Jessica Gerald (2007-11) with 1,504 career points.

New Kids on the Block
NJIT added four newcomers to the 2025-26 roster with three freshmen and one transfer. Mia Gestosani hails from Somerset, NJ, Addison Shen from Concord, MA, Lauren Lee from New Port Richey, FL and Ava Locklear a transfer from Tiffin, IA. 

America East Conference
NJIT will begin its sixth 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 eighth in the 2024-25 preseason coaches poll.

The Highlanders, which made its fifth consecutive appearance in the 2025 America East postseason tournament, concluded its season with a 11-19 overall mark and 8-18 in the America East.

Fans will once again be able to watch every #AEHoops home game on The AE on ESPN with all games airing on ESPN+ or ESPN3 domestically and AmericaEast.TV internationally.

Heading Back Home
Four Highlanders will be close to home and will have the opportunity to play in front of friends and family this weekend.
Audrey Kormann (Maple Grove, MN)
Piper Engleby (Andover, MN)
Madilyn Dogs (Kewaskum, WI)
Ava Locklear (Tiffin, IA) 

Scouting Minnesota
Minnesota, who is receiving votes in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women's basketball poll enters Friday's contest with a 3-0 record with three home wins over North Dakota, Manhattan and Marquette.  The Golden Gophers are averaging 93.3 points per game and defeating opponents by a scoring margin of +50.0.

Five players are averaging double-digits–Tori Mckinney (14.7), Sophie Hart (14.3), Makena Christian (14.0), Grace Gracholski (12.0) and Mara Braun (10.3).  On the boards, Amaya Battle tops the team with 9.0rpg.

The Golden Gophers concluded the 2024-25 season by winning the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT), marking the program's second postseason title and reaching the 25-win milestone for the first time since 2004-05.. Minnesota previously won the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) in 2012.

Scouting St. Thomas
St. Thomas, in a stretch of three straight games at home, will host Eastern Michigan on November 14 before welcoming the Highlanders on November 16.

The Tommies opened the season at Iowa State and hosted Army West Point on November 8 inside their new arena – The Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.

St. Thomas was predicted to finish fifth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll. Last season, the Tommies earned its highest finish in the Summit League standings since joining the conference in 2021. 

The Tommies closed the season with a 17-13 record, including  9-7 mark in conference play, marking the second straight 15+ win season for the Purple in the Division I era. The Tommies also set DI era records for single-season wins (17) and Summit League wins (9) during the 2024-25 season.  

St. Thomas officially began competing at the NCAA Division I level in the 2021-2022 season.  The University was granted a waiver by the NCAA on July 15, 2020, to make an unprecedented direct transition from Division III to Division I. They became a full Division I member, eligible for all postseason play, on June 23, 2025, after the NCAA approved a rule change that reduced their transition period from five years to four.   St. Thomas joined the Summit League conference, while the football team joined the Pioneer Football League, and their men's and women's hockey teams joined the CCHA and WCHA.

Next Up
The Highlanders will play the next six out of seven contests at home inside the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.  NJIT will host nearby Saint Peter's (Nov. 19), Drexel (Nov. 22) a 17-win team from a year ago, and welcome defending Northeast Champions FDU (Nov. 25) and after the Thanksgiving Holiday, Lafayette (Nov. 30).

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.