NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT women's basketball will take on Army West Point Sunday afternoon in the second round of the WNIT.

Game Information
Army West Point will host the WNIT Second Round on the campus of Army inside Christol Arena.  Tip-off is slated for 2pm on ESPN+ with in-game statistics available on GoArmyWestPoint.com.

All-Time Series
Army West Point leads the all-time series, 3-1.  The last two meetings were split with the Black Knights, as NJIT earned a 69-68 overtime victory in Newark last season while NJIT came out on top in 2023-24, 73-57, in West Point.

2025-26 Rewind 

• Sunday will mark the first time in program history NJIT will be competing in the Second Round of the WNIT.

• NJIT made history on Thursday night, securing the first postseason victory in program history with a win at Merrimack on March 19.  It also marked the first time in the NJIT Division I era NJIT competed in a postseason tournament. This is the second time in program history NJIT will be competing in a postseason tournament (2004-05; ECAC Tournament).

• With the win at Merrimack, NJIT set the program record for overall wins (19) and recorded the first postseason victory in program history.  The mark surpasses the total achieved in the 2004-05 season.   

• The 10 road victories is a new program record for the Highlanders. 

• NJIT finished with nine conference wins, tying the program mark previously set during the 2021–22 season. In addition, NJIT recorded nine non-conference victories, the most in the program's Division I era.

• The nine America East Conference victories matches the highest win total (2021-22)

• NJIT was the fifth-seed in the America East Conference Postseason Tournament and dropped a one-point decision on the road in the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded UMBC, 66-65.

• Alejandra Zuniga, NJIT's all-time leading scorer with 1,724 career points, is a four-time America East Conference selection, selected as one of 107 players to be named a finalist for the 2026 Lilly Women's College All-Star Game.  This season, Zuniga averaged 17.8ppg, 4.0asp, 3.9rpg

• Olivia Kulyk earned America East Conference second team honors, leading the conference in three-point field goals (72) and three-point field goals made (2.5).

First Round of WNIT vs. Merrimack | March 19, 2026 
The NJIT women's basketball team made history Thursday evening, securing its first postseason victory with a 68–65 win over Merrimack in the opening round of the WNIT at Lawler Arena.

Trailing 65–60 with just over five minutes remaining, the Highlanders closed the game on a dominant 13–1 run, holding Merrimack scoreless from the field down the stretch to secure the historic road victory.

NJIT (19-12) was led by senior guard Alejandra Zuniga, who scored a game-high 20 points. Ava Locklear recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Allison Cannon added 11 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting performance, along with six rebounds and four assists.

Common Opponents for NJIT and Army
NJIT and Lafayette have four common opponents on the 2025-26 schedule: St. Thomas, New Hampshire, Saint Peter's, Lafayette.  Both NJIT and Army defeated all four opponents this season.

Scouting the Black Knights
Led by first year head coach Katie Kuester, Army has put together an impressive 24-7 record and earned a trip to the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals. The Black Knights 23 wins during the regular season marked their most since the 2015-16 season.

Army finished tied for second in the Patriot League standings, posting a 14-4 conference record. In the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament, Army defeated Lafayette. Army also recorded strong regular season wins over UMass, Howard and split its regular season series against Patriot League champion Holy Cross. 

The Black Knights earned six Patriot League All-Team honors this postseason. Camryn Tade was named First Team All-Patriot League, Kya Smith earned Second Team All-Patriot League, Reese Ericson garnered Third Team All-Patriot League and Reganne Reardon was named to the All-Rookie Team. Additionally, Tade and Smith each earned a spot on the All-Defensive team. 

WNIT Information
Now in its 28th year, the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), powered by Triple Crown Sports, features a 48-team field that includes nine automatic qualifiers and 39 at-large selections from conferences across the country.

WNIT Schedule

• Round 1: NJIT 68, Merrimack 65 | March 19, 2026

• Round 2: March 22–24, 2026

• Super 16: March 25–27, 2026

• Great 8: March 28–30, 2026

• Fab 4: March 31–April 1, 2026

• Championship: April 4, 2026

#AEHoops in the Postseason
This year four teams were selected to compete in postseason action. In addition to Vermont's appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Binghamton, UMBC and NJIT were all selected to the WNIT. The four teams in postseason play match the most in conference history. In 2016, UAlbany reached the NCAA Tournament, while Maine played in the WNIT with UMBC and Stony Brook competing in the WBI.

NJIT at a Glance
The Highlanders are 19-12 this year, their highest win total as a Division I program. They have won 5 of 7, highlighted by a 68-65 win at Merrimack on Thursday as NJIT finished the game on a 13-1 run to secure the victory. Alejandra Zuniga had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists to pace the team. NJIT is averaging a league-best 65.8 points per game while allowing 63.0. Zuniga leads the team with 17.8 points, 4.0 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. Olivia Kulyk is putting up 14.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while leading the league with 72 threes.

WNIT Success
The America East has had at least two teams in the WNIT three times in the past five seasons. Two years ago, Vermont went on a run to the WNIT Fab 4 after falling to Maine in the conference championship. The Catamounts beat Niagara (69-53) and Colgate (65- 55) at home before taking down Purdue on the road (67-59). Vermont lost 57-54 to eventual champion Saint Louis in the Fab Four.  UAlbany also reached the WNIT, falling to Colgate. 

Postseason Victories
For the first time in league history, the America East has had three teams earn postseason victories as Binghamton, NJIT and UMBC all earned wins in the WNIT on Thursday night. On Sunday NJIT looks for its 20th win of the season against Army. They have two common opponents this year. NJIT was perfect against UNH (2-0) and Lafayette (1-0) while Army was also unbeaten vs Lafayette (3-0) and UNH (1-0). Binghamton will face La Salle on Monday and they have two common opponents. La Salle lost to Penn and beat St. Bonaventure while Binghamton lost to Penn and then 68-65 to the Bonnies. UMBC battled Marshall on Monday and the two teams have no common opponents.

Stay Connected
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