NJIT WBB falters late in loss to UMass Lowell

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The NJIT WBB Team(8-7, 0-2 America East) hosted the UMass Lowell River Hawks(2-13, 2-1 America East) on Education Day at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey. Education Day was a successful event with an enthusiastic and thunderous group of students from varying schools throughout The Garden State, with an attendance 1,718.

“It’s always great playing in front of a crowd, and when you make a bucket hearing 1500 other kids cheer for it, it’s different, and we don’t play in front of crowds like that,” NJIT Head Coach Mike Lane noted. “These kids will always remember these games when the gym was packed and loud.” “Probably a lot of kids have never been to a Division I basketball game, and it’s crucial to expose them to this a great job by the administration putting this together.”

NJIT was coming off a brutal 77-36 loss to the University of Albany in the America East 2023-24 opener at the Broadview Center in Albany, New Jersey. Aria Myers led the Highlanders in scoring with ten points.

Both teams struggled to score points in the first quarter, possibly due to an early tip-off at 11 a.m. UMass jumped out to a 7-2 lead not even three minutes in. However, NJIT responded with a run to trim the margin to 11-8. By the time the period ended, the Highlanders were closed to within 11-10.

“The first quarter, we were trying to feel it out and weren’t on the same page, and that really hurt us defensively, “Head Coach Mike Lane described.

NJIT managed to right the ship in the second quarter as Aria Myers buried a trifecta to put the Highlanders up 17-16. With the score tied at 20-20, NJIT erupted for a 9-2 spurt. The Highlanders received a spark from Alejandra Zuniga, tallying her tenth point on a jump shot that made it 29-22 with less than five minutes remaining.

NJIT held a 38-30 advantage with a minute and a half left and seemed on the verge of heading into the locker room with a comfortable lead. UMass Lowell changed that scenario, closing the first half on a 5-0 run.

The Highlanders were on fire in the second quarter, shooting 81 percent from the field and sinking nine of ten free throws. In the first half, NJIT dominated points in the paint 14-4 and fast break points 9-3.

“In the second quarter we got our feet underneath us and really good bench support,” Head Coach Mike Lane explained. “We had the lead but just let it go and couldn’t get enough stops.”

Once the third quarter got underway, the Highlanders built up their lead. Trinity Williams set the tone early with a dazzling drive by spinning around in the low post and flicking up a layup as she absorbed the contact. Williams hit the free throw to bump her point total up to nine.

NJIT steadily tacked on points as the quarter progressed, with Aria Myers sinking a triple that expanded the Highlanders’ lead to 55-45 at the four-and-a-half-minute mark. The River Hawks charged back with an 8-2 blitz to narrow the gap.

In the fourth quarter, NJIT led 61-55 with eight minutes left, but the River Hawks answered with a resounding 8-0 run in less than two minutes of action. The Highlanders counterpunched after trailing 66-61 with a 6-0 burst to reclaim the lead on a layup by Kenna Squier.

UMass Lowell ignited a rebuttal to jump back in front 70-67 with 1.6 secs remaining. NJIT had multiple opportunities to tie or take the lead, but the shots would not drop as the River Hawks held on for the victory. The Highlanders dropped their second straight game in the America East Conference.

Alejandra Zuniga scored a game-high 16 points for NJIT. At the same time, Kenna Squier, Aria Myers, and Trinity Williams each finished with 11 points apiece, and Williams dropped a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds.

“The problem is we gave up nine three, and we had the same number of shots(25) as them,” Head Coach Mike Lane stated. “The offensive effort I’m pleased about because over two quarters we had ten points and put up 67, and there’s some explosiveness, and we’re going to get better, but we couldn’t get the stops and that’s conference basketball and story of the game.”

NJIT returns to action on Saturday, January 13th, squaring off against the co-defending 2022-23 and conference tournament champion Vermont Catamounts(10-7, 2-1 America East) at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center with tip-off set for 1 p.m.

“They’re the defending champs and so they’re going to have our attention,” Head Coach Lane remarked. “They’re a very good team and coming off wins and old and experienced and know how to win conference games.”

“We have a lot of returners, but it’s still something that this team needs to learn to win some games, and Vermont’s going to be a huge challenge, and they handled us last year, so we got to bounce back.” “Hopefully, we’ll have more fight and need a defensive effort, and that’s more of what we’re looking for.”

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