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 Junior guard Jill Dickinson |
Nov. 11, 2007
BROOKLYN, NY - NJIT kept fighting back in the second half, but was unable to pull out the victory as the Highlanders fell 58-54, in the women's basketball season opener at St. Francis (NY) Sunday afternoon.
The Highlanders were led by junior Jill Dickinson, who scored a team-high 14 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Point guard Jackie McCaffrey who made her Division I debut, returning to the court for the first time since the 2005-06 season scored 10 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.
The top scorer for St. Francis was senior guard Tiffany Hill, with 20 points, while 6-foot-4 center Kendra Williams posted a double-double, 11 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. She also made a team-best 3 blocks. Kara Ayers recorded 13 points, eight rebounds while teammate Linda Warrington produced 10 points, seven rebounds.
Trailing at the half, 30-28, NJIT soon fell behind by eight points, trailing 40-32, with 15 minutes left in the game. The Highlanders soon rallied and went on a 8-0 run coming within one point of the Terriers, 46-45, on a three point play by freshman Maya Al-Shingieti with 8:04 left to play.
Both teams exchanged baskets as St. Francis took a four point lead, 51-47 on a three-pointer by Ayers at 7:12.
NJIT answered back on a three-pointer by sophomore Taiwo Oyelola pulling the Highlanders within one point, 51-50, and on the next play down the floor went ahead, 52-51, on a jumper from the free throw line from McCaffrey.
Williams knotted the game for St. Francis at 52 with 3:11 left. Starting a 5-0 run--all on free throws--that pushed the Terrier lead out to four with 14 seconds left on the clock.
The Highlanders in-bounded the ball quickly to senior Erika Velez, who dribbled the length of the court and completed a lay-up with 6 seconds left to go and coming within two.
The last play of the game was a long ball thrown to Warrington who completed the lay-up closing out the game, 58-54.
Al-Shingieti made her college debut recording a game-high four blocks for the Highlanders. Captain Katie Piekielski added eight points and four rebounds.
Sunday's opener at St. Francis was a rematch of the first ever meeting between the teams, won by the Terriers, 59-36, on December 22, 2006 in Newark.
NJIT will return to action on Wednesday, November 14, when it travels to Jersey City to face Saint Peter's at 7pm.
In last year's meeting between the two teams, Saint Peter's slipped pass the Highlanders 67-61. Dickinson led the Highlanders with 13 points, as she shot 6-for-9 from the field. Kehinde Oyelola came off the NJIT bench for 11 points and a team-leading 9 rebounds in 17 minutes.
