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NJIT will play its next three games at home, first hosting Rider on Sunday at 2pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. … This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
The Highlanders (4-3 overall, 3-2 at home) are coming off a 61-37 loss at Lehigh on Wednesday, led by freshman Alyssa Albanese's career-high 10 points in 24 minutes of action off the bench.
 
Nicole Maticka, who is nationally ranked in blocks per game, added five points and three blocks for the Highlanders, raising her season total to 23 blocks, a new NJIT Division I single-season record, just seven games into her first season at NJIT.
 
Maticka from Bratislava, Slovakia, ranks 11^th in the nation with 3.3 blocks per game. The 6-foot-3 center is one of three freshman ranked in the top 11.
 
Before the Highlanders traveled to Lehigh, NJIT had won its last three-out-of-four contests with victories over Wagner (Nov. 19), Delaware State (Nov. 23) and Bucknell (Dec. 3).  Sophomore forward Uju Nwankwo made one free throw with 25 seconds remaining, snapping a 53-53 tie and giving NJIT a 54-53 victory over Bucknell. 
 
The only loss for the Highlanders in the four-game stretch, came against Manhattan on (Nov. 27), where NJIT poured in 51 second-half points, 33 of which came on 3-point baskets, but it wasn't enough to offset a fatally slow start and the Highlanders ran out of time against visiting Manhattan, 75-66.
 
The Highlanders are led by freshman Sarah Olson, who is averaging 10.6ppg and Nwankwo's 10.0ppg and team-leading 6.1rpg.  Junior Rayven Johnson is the third leading scorer on the team with 9.6ppg and 5.7rpg, ranking the 5-foot-11 guard second on the team.
 
Rider (4-3) comes into Sunday's contest after a 53-41 win over Stony Brook on Tuesday.  Sophomore MyNeshia McKenzie combined for 11 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds in the victory.
 
Last season, Rider finished with a 5-25 overall mark, 5-13 in the MAAC.  This season the Broncs were selected to finish eighth.  Rider opened the season with a 2-0 record with wins over Lafayette and Bucknell. 
 
McKenzie, the 5-foot-11 forward, is averaging a double-double with 13.3ppg and 10.1rpg for the Broncs followed by Ali Heller with 9.9ppg and Sironda Chamers with 9.6ppg and 4.4rpg.
 
Heller, the Broncs senior guard, is nationally ranked in three-point field goal percentage this season (26^th), shooting 45 percent (17-38).
 
Fans unable to make the game can follow all the action live on www.njithighlanders.com, which will carry a webcast play-by-play and commentary from Matt Provence, as well as an in-game real-time stat feed. Audio coverage begins a 15 minutes before the 2 pm game.