NJIT Registers First America East Win, Stoll and Squier Lead All Scorers with 19 Points

NJIT captured its first America East Conference victory Saturday afternoon led by senior Ellyn Stoll and sophomore Kenna Squier's game-high 19 points en route to a 78-57 victory over New Hampshire at Lundholm Gymnasium in the conference opener for both teams.

The win for NJIT is the first of the 2020-21 season, first in the America East since joining the league in July 2020 and first all-time over the Wildcats.

"We are so excited," third year head coach Mike Lane added postgame.  "To be the first team to represent NJIT in the America East and come out here and perform like we did, it's the finishing statement of a long chapter in NJIT Athletics.  "We found our home and it's an incredible win for the institution."

In NJIT's conference debut, the Highlanders (1-1, 1-0 America East) had four players reach double-figures led by Stoll and Squier with 19 each.  Stoll, the lone senior on the Highlanders roster, shot an impressive 8-for-11 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range while grabbing four rebounds.  Squier shot 6-for-8 from the field, a perfect 2-for-2 from downtown and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

"Being the first NJIT team to record a win in the America East is a great feeling," Stoll added.  "Coming into a new conference you don't really know what to expect and I think we really left our mark here today."

Freshman Kiana Brereton put together a strong performance off the bench for the Highlanders, netting 14 points on 4-of-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line while grabbing four rebounds and four assists.

"That's a big day for a freshman in her first conference game," Lane added.  "We want playmakers and you saw that from Kiana today--driving, hitting threes and helping out breaking the press."

Classmate Lyzi Litwinko, making her first collegiate start of her career, scored 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

New Hampshire (0-3, 0-1 America East) was led by Ivy Gogolin who just missed notching a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds followed by Amanda Torres with 13 points.

After an opening bucket by New Hampshire Delaruelle Helena, NJIT scored the next 11 consecutive, sparked by a three-pointer from Kenna Squier, taking an 11-3 lead, resulting in a Wildcat timeout at the 5:50 mark.  Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats scored five straight, cutting the deficit to three, 11-8, and the Highlanders held a seven-point lead at the end of the quarter, 19-12.

To open the second quarter, UNH used a 11-4 run to knot the score at 23-all at the 6:03 mark behind six points from Amanda Torres in the run.  Both teams traded points over the next  four minutes as the Highlanders went on a 5-2 spurt in the final 1:50, including a three-pointer at the half of the quarter by Grace Plummer, giving the Highlanders a 37-32 lead.

At the half, Stoll led the Highlanders with nine points followed by Brereton with nine points off the bench.

NJIT went up by double-digits in the opening three minutes of the third quarter, 42-32, after a 5-0 run and extended its lead to 12, 51-39, on an 8-3 spurt with 2:13 on the clock.

The Highlanders continued its momentum into the fourth quarter, using a 7-2 run and pushing its lead to 17, 67-50, after a pair of free throws by Squier just under the six-minute mark.  NJIT closed out the contest on an 11-4 run behind a trio of three-pointers as the Highlanders cruised to a 78-57 victory.

As a team, NJIT shot 51 percent from the field (25-for-49), 50 percent from three-point range (9-for-18) and 82.6 percent from the free throw line (19-for-23).

Both teams will return to action on Sunday with tip slated for 1pm inside Lundholm Gymnasium.  The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.  All links are available on www.NJITHighlanders.com.