ORONO, ME–Fifth-seeded NJIT concluded its 2025 season at the Jersey Mike's America East Women's Basketball Playoffs in the quarterfinals falling to fourth-seeded Maine, 65-51, inside The Pit in Memorial Gymnasium Thursday evening.
NJIT ends its season with an 11-19 overall record. The Highlanders reached the America East Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season and for the fourth straight season combined for 10 or more wins, an NJIT Division I record. The eight wins in America East action is one shy of the program record nine (2021-22 season).
The Highlanders had two players in double-figures Thursday, Alejandra Zuniga (14pts) and Olivia Kulyk (12pts). Enya Maguire chipped in nine points while Marissa Gingrich and Trinity Williams each added eight points.
Zuniga, an America East first-team selection, added five rebounds and four assists while Kulyk, the America East Rookie of the Year, third-team selection and All-Rookie team honoree shot 2-for-5 from three-point and added three rebounds and two assists. Zungia concludes her junior campaign with 1,278 career points which ranks fifth all-time.
Williams, named to the America East All-Defensive team and All-Academic team, pulled down five rebounds and shot 4-for-5 from the field. Maguire, who leads the America East in three-point percentage and three-point field goals made per game, went 2-for-5 from downtown and grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
Maine scored the first five points of the game and extended its lead to 10-4 but the Highlanders responded with a 6-2 spurt, sparked by a three-pointer from Olivia Kulyk to cut the Black Bears lead to three, 13-10, at the 2:03 mark. Maine scored the last five points of the quarter to take an eight-point advantage, 18-10.
The Black Bears pushed its lead to as much as 12, 24-16, resulting in a timeout by NJIT at the 6:04 mark. Graduate student Enya Maguire knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the arc to slim the Maine lead to six, 27-21, with less than three minutes to play. Maine scored four straight points in a span of a minute but NJIT's Marissa Gingrich scored the final points of the quarter with the clock winding down on a turnaround jumper to close the Black Bears gap to single digits, eight, 31-23.
After the first 20 minutes, NJIT's Kulyk led the Highlanders with nine points while Maine's Asta Blauenfeldt paced all players with 13 points.
Maine scored the first basket of the third quarter but it was NJIT that scored the next 11 consecutive capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Marissa Gingrich at the 2:31 mark for its first lead of the game, 34-33. Maine finished the final 2:10 on a 5-1 run for a three-point lead, 38-35.
NJIT, trailing by three 38-35, heading into the fourth quarter, saw the Black Bears outscore the Highlanders in the fourth quarter, 27-16, securing the quarterfinal victory 65-51 to advance to the America East semifinals on March 10.
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