2025–26 NJIT Highlanders women's basketball team

2025–26 NJIT Highlanders women's basketball
2025–26 NJIT Highlanders women's basketball
Conference	America East Conference
Record	13–9 (4–5 AmEast)
Head coach	Mike Lane (8th season);
Assistant coaches	Colleen Moriarty; Payce Lange; Kelly Guarino; Jenesis Alverio;
Home arena	Wellness and Events Center

2025–26 America East Conference women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Vermont	11	–	2	.846	22	–	6	.786
Binghamton	9	–	3	.750	17	–	8	.680
Maine	9	–	4	.692	14	–	12	.538
UMBC	7	–	5	.583	12	–	12	.500
Bryant	7	–	6	.538	17	–	9	.654
NJIT	7	–	6	.538	16	–	10	.615
Albany	3	–	9	.250	13	–	12	.520
New Hampshire	2	–	10	.167	8	–	17	.320
UMass Lowell	1	–	11	.083	7	–	18	.280

† 2026 AmEast tournament winner As of February 14, 2026

The 2025–26 NJIT Highlanders women's basketball team currently represent the New Jersey Institute of Technology during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by eighth-year head coach Mike Lane, play their home games at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey as members of the America East Conference.

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2024–25 season 11–18, 8–8 in AmEast play, to finish in fifth place.^[1] They were defeated by Maine in the quarterfinals of the AmEast tournament.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

NJIT Departures
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Mayah Alford	2	G	5'9"	Freshman	Levittown, PA	Transferred to Mercer County (JUCO)
Enya Maguire	8	G	5'5"	Graduate	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Graduated
Aria Myers	11	G	5'9"	Graduate	Cedar Grove, NJ	Graduated
Trinity Williams	21	F	6'1"	Senior	Upper Black Eddy, PA	Graduated
Reese Vaughan	22	G	5'9"	Senior	Endwell, NY	Graduated
Angelina Banas	55	F	6'0"	Sophomore	Columbus, NJ	TBD; entered transfer portal

Incoming transfers

NJIT incoming transfers
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Ava Locklear	45	F	5'11"	Sophomore	Tiffin, IA	Saginaw Valley State (DII)

Recruiting class

There was no recruiting class for the class of 2025.

Preseason

On October 20, 2025, the America East Conference released their preseason poll. NJIT was picked to finish fifth in the conference.^[3]

Preseason rankings

AmEast Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Vermont	63 (7)
2	Maine	55 (2)
3	Bryant	46
4	Albany	42
5	NJIT	37
6	Binghamton	26
7	New Hampshire	24
8	UMBC	23
9	UMass Lowell	8
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[3]

Preseason All-America East Team

Preseason All-America East Team
Player	Year	Position
Alejandra Zuniga	Senior	Guard

Source:^[3]

Roster

2025–26 NJIT Highlanders women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	3	Allison Cannon	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Holmdel High School	Holmdel, NJ
F	5	Audrey Kormann	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Maple Grove Senior High School	Maple Grove, MN
G	8	Mia Gestosani	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Mount St. Mary Academy	Somerset, NJ
G	10	Marissa Gingrich	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Mifflin County High School	Mifflin County, PA
G	11	Addison Shen	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Concord-Carlisle High School	Concord, MA
G	13	Piper Engelby	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Andover High School	Andover, MN
G	15	Madilyn Dogs	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Kewaskum High School	Kewaskum, WI
F	22	Lauren Lee	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	River Ridge High School	New Port Richey, FL
F	23	Mackenzie Wright-Rawls	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Central York High School	York, PA
F	24	Kyleigh Welsh	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS Jr	Clearwater High School	Clearwater, FL
G	25	Avery O'Roke	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Sr	Millbrook High School	Winchester, VA
F	30	Olivia O'Meally	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Niskayuna High School	Niskayuna, NY
G	32	Olivia Kulyk	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Mercyhurst Preparatory School	Edinboro, PA
G	34	Alejandra Zuniga	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Sr	IES Jose Garcia Nieto	Madrid, Spain
F	45	Ava Locklear	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Clear Creek Amana High School	Tiffin, IA

Head coach

Mike Lane (Notre Dame)

Assistant coach(es)

Colleen Moriarty (UMass Dartmouth)
Payce Lange (Kean)
Kelly Guarino (NJIT)
Jenesis Alverio (Saint Peter's)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 23, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Sacred Heart	W 64–51	1–0	24 – Zuniga	9 – Locklear	7 – Zuniga	William H. Pitt Center (721) Fairfield, CT
November 7, 2025* 5:00 pm, ESPN+	at Fordham	W 82–78	2–0	25 – Kulyk	6 – Tied	7 – Zuniga	Rose Hill Gymnasium Bronx, NY
November 11, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Wagner	W 78–58	3–0	23 – Gingrich	7 – Gingrich	3 – Gingrich	Wellness and Events Center (181) Newark, NJ
November 14, 2025* 6:00 pm, B1G+	at Minnesota	L 39–88	3–1	11 – Cannon	6 – Locklear	3 – Gingrich	Williams Arena (2,973) Minneapolis, MN
November 16, 2025* 2:00 pm, MidcoSN+	at St. Thomas	W 68–63	4–1	22 – Gingrich	6 – Tied	4 – Cannon	Lee & Penny Anderson Arena (389) St. Paul, MN
November 19, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Saint Peter's	W 81–33	5–1	15 – Kulyk	10 – Locklear	4 – Cannon	Wellness and Events Center (179) Newark, NJ
November 22, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Drexel	W 73–66	6–1	24 – Kulyk	10 – Locklear	4 – Cannon	Wellness and Events Center (232) Newark, NJ
November 25, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Fairleigh Dickinson	L 43–71	6–2	9 – Tied	7 – Locklear	4 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (188) Newark, NJ
November 30, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Lafayette	W 71–60	7–2	30 – Kulyk	16 – Locklear	11 – Cannon	Wellness and Events Center (279) Newark, NJ
December 3, 2025* 5:00 pm, FloCollege	at Monmouth	L 68–77	7–3	24 – Locklear	14 – Locklear	5 – Zuniga	OceanFirst Bank Center (547) West Long Branch, NJ
December 7, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Manhattan	W 71–54	8–3	18 – Locklear	7 – Tied	4 – Tied	Wellness and Events Center (191) Newark, NJ
December 11, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Dartmouth	L 60–61	8–4	15 – Tied	9 – Locklear	5 – Zuniga	Wellness and Events Center (201) Newark, NJ
December 29, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Delaware State	W 75–62	9–4	17 – Tied	10 – Kulyk	4 – Gingrich	Memorial Hall (56) Dover, DE
America East regular season
January 1, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at UMBC	W 80–75	10–4 (1–0)	39 – Zuniga	9 – Locklear	3 – Kulyk	Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (410) Catonsville, MD
January 3, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Binghamton	L 71-75	10–5 (1–1)	20 – Kulyk	14 – Locklear	8 – Zuniga	Wellness and Events Center (244) Newark, NJ
January 8, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at New Hampshire	W 69–62	11–5 (2–1)	19 – Zuniga	14 – Locklear	2 – Gingrich	Lundholm Gym (226) Durham, NH
January 10, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Maine	L 67–86	11–6 (2–2)	22 – Zuniga	8 – Gingrich	5 – Kulyk	Memorial Gymnasium (1,113) Orono, ME
January 15, 2026 11:00 am, ESPN+	UMass Lowell	W 68–57	12–6 (3–2)	22 – Kulyk	13 – Locklear	10 – Zuniga	Wellness and Events Center (2,326) Newark, NJ
January 17, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bryant	W 78–65	13–6 (4–2)	27 – Zuniga	8 – Zuniga	4 – Zuniga	Chace Athletic Center (167) Smithfield, RI
January 22, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	UMBC	L 51–52	13–7 (4–3)	22 – Zuniga	6 – Tied	2 – Zuniga	Wellness and Events Center (334) Newark, NJ
January 29, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Albany	L 54–71	13–8 (4–4)	17 – Locklear	6 – Tied	5 – Zuniga	Wellness and Events Center (255) Newark, NJ
January 31, 2026 12:00 pm, ESPN+	Vermont	L 61–63	13–9 (4–5)	27 – Zuniga	8 – Locklear	3 – Zuniga	Wellness and Events Center (376) Newark, NJ
February 5, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at UMass Lowell						Kennedy Family Athletic Complex Lowell, MA
February 7, 2026 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Binghamton						Events Center Vestal, NY
February 12, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	New Hampshire						Wellness and Events Center Newark, NJ
February 14, 2026 12:00 pm, ESPN+	Maine						Wellness and Events Center Newark, NJ
February 19, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Albany						Broadview Center Albany, NY
February 21, 2026 TBA, ESPN+	at Vermont						Patrick Gym Burlington, VT
February 28, 2026 4:30 pm, ESPN+	Bryant						Wellness and Events Center Newark, NJ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[4]^[5]

References

^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Standings". America East Conference. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
^ "Maine women's basketball wins 10th straight America East Quarterfinal". WABI-TV. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "America East Reveals Women's #AEHoops 2025-26 Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference Team". America East Conference. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
^ "NJIT Highlanders 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 23, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Women's Basketball Standings". America East Conference. Retrieved December 23, 2025.

[2] "Maine women's basketball wins 10th straight America East Quarterfinal". WABI-TV. Retrieved December 23, 2025.

[poll-3] "America East Reveals Women's #AEHoops 2025-26 Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference Team". America East Conference. Retrieved December 23, 2025.

[4] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved December 23, 2025.

[5] "NJIT Highlanders 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 23, 2025.

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NJIT Highlanders women's basketball
Venues	Fleisher Center (1986–2017) Wellness and Events Center (2017–present)
Culture & lore	NJIT Highlander
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25