The NJIT Highlanders Women’s Basketball Team (2-2) won convincingly, 73-52, over the Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-2) at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey.
NJIT was off and running from the start, jumping to a 7-0 lead in the first minute of action. Sacred Heart responded with a run to even up the score at 9-9 with six and a half minutes left.
However, the Highlanders managed to recover behind the tandem of Alejandra Zuniga and Enya Maguire, who combined to score 13 points, as NJIT led 21-11 at the end of the quarter. The Highlanders shot a scalding 64 percent from the field while the bench contributed ten points.
“A huge first quarter and 60 seconds for us and love to start that and every team wants that but then we gave it back,” NJIT Head Coach Mike Lane explained. “They’re a championship caliber team and went to the NCAA Tournament last year and the game’s not over and they have taken a hit before.”
In the second quarter, the Highlanders expanded their advantage to 17 points. Despite Alejandra Zuniga picking up her third foul with four minutes remaining, Zuniga tallied 12 points.
By the time halftime rolled around, NJIT led by a commanding margin of 48-29, with Enya Maguire also netting 12 points. The Highlanders bench supplied 17 points, with Avery O’Roke contributing six points and Mackenzie Wright-Rawls chipping in with five points.
“We were able to build the lead in the second quarter and put 48 points up on the board,” Head Coach Mike Lane described. “We wanted to put pressure on them to score in the second half and it was a great first half of basketball.”
“Alejandra and Enya feed off each other and played well, and Marissa [Gingrich] had [Ny’Ceara] as the defensive assignment,” Head Coach Mike Lane noted. “Mackenzie and Avery played very well and gave great minutes, and we needed that team effort, and obviously, we had some kids out in Trinity [Williams] and Kyleigh [Welsh] and foul trouble. We could play through that, and it’s good for our youth.”
Once the third quarter commenced, the NJIT offense hit a drought spell, not scoring the first points of the quarter until six minutes to go and a grand total of four by the end of the period. Both teams struggled mightily to amass points on the scoreboard, combining for a total of 14 points. The Highlanders shot a meager 11 percent from the field and 0 for eight from behind the arc.
“It’s not the quarter we wanted and I think it’s hard to play with a big lead,” Head Coach Mike Lane stated. “I think we were playing the scoreboard instead of our opponent and we were worried about scoring. I think we were overpassing and had ten turnovers and weren’t playing our game and looked a little tentative. At least our defense kept it to a 10-4 quarter instead of 17-4 and we really never gave them the momentum.”
Right off the bat in the fourth quarter, Allison Cannon provided a major spark for NJIT by racking up seven of her 12 points, which widened the gap to 59-40 with less than eight minutes left.
“Once she hit those two layups and then hit a three, I think we knew that we were winning,” Head Coach Mike Lane mentioned. “We were looking for something and we couldn’t quite find it and did some substitution. We just needed the ball to go through the hoop.”
Eventually, the Highlanders cruised to the victory, with ten players reaching the score sheet. NJIT evened up its record at 2-2 after dropping its last two games, including a 94-84 loss at Rutgers.
“We had three kids in double figures, Olivia O’Meally had eight points, Mackenzie with seven points and Avery with six points so it’s really great balance,” Head Coach Mike Lane cited. “In the beginning of the game it was Alejandra and Enya but it’s hard to score and keep that up and we rely on our depth. I thought we had a really solid game up and down the roster.”
“I loved how we responded at Rutgers and obviously a great game and we gave an incredible effort and grit and would have been an easy game to get wiped out. We were down Friday night after a tough loss [Hofstra] and you lose on your home floor in the fourth quarter. We responded on Sunday and then tonight with 73 points where we only score four in the third quarter.”
The Highlanders return to action on Sunday, Nov. 17 at Florida Gulf Coast University (0-2). Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at the Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Florida.
“It’s Florida and always a good trip and experience,” Head Coach Mike Lane said. “Actually, a weird game because Coach Karl Smesko stepped down today and accepted a job with the Atlanta Dream this morning and [it’s] going to be an interesting game. We don’t quite know how they’ll play their style and emotions of the team are going to be.”
“Florida Gulf Coast has a great crowd, and they’ve put together an amazing program and Karl’s not going to be there, but his footprint is all over the thing and one of the best mid-majors there is and they have been incredible in an amount of time. It’s a real honor to play them and they get 2000-3000 people and going to be a great experience.”
