May 4, 2008

First Annual Women's Basketball Awards Banquet Photogallery

NEWARK, NJ: - The New Jersey Institute of Technology women's basketball team held its first annual awards banquet at the Highlander Club in the Campus Center on Sunday, May 4.

Head coach Margaret McKeon and Director of Athletics Lenny Kaplan greeted student-athletes, administrators and family members at the reception. Coach McKeon handed out five individual awards and three academic awards throughout the evening.

Freshman Jessica Gerald was presented with the Most Valuable Player award after being selected Division I Independent women's basketball Newcomer of the Year. Gerald was the only Highlander to average double figures, with 12.7 ppg, while reaching double-figures in 21 out of 29 contests. She exploded for a school-record 37 points on January 11 against California State University, Bakersfield where she scored the highest single-game total in the 21-season history of NJIT women's basketball.

Point guard Jackie McCaffrey earned the Best Assist Leader award. McCaffrey holds the Division I single-season record with 76 assists. She dished out a season-high seven assists in the first round of the national Division I Independent Tournament against Florida Gulf Coast on March 6.

Sophomore Taiwo Oyelola collected the Leading Rebounder Award. T. Oyelola holds the Division I single-season record (2007-08 season) pulling down 158 rebounds, averaging 5.6 per game. She pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds on two different occasions this season - Morgan State (Feb. 12) and Cal State-Bakersfield (Jan. 11).

Lone senior Erika Velez was presented with the Steal Leader Award with 61 steals in her final season as a Highlander. Velez ranks third all-time with 190 career steals.

Rookie Ivana Seric was honored with the Most Inspired Player Award. The native of Croatia played in 15 games after joining the Highlanders in January, averaging 8.2 points per game and she ranked third on the team with 11 blocks. She posted a career-high 18 points in the final game of the season against Utah Valley at the Division I national Independent Tournament.

Sophomore and team captain Katie Piekielski, junior Jill Dickinson and sophomore Kathryn Wighton were recognized with the Highest Academic Achievement award. Piekielski, a biology major holds a 3.72 GPA; Dickinson a business major holds a 3.26 GPA; and, Wighton, a communications major, has a 3.26 GPA.

The Highlanders finished with a record of 10-19 in their first season under coach McKeon and their second season of Division I competition. This season they more than doubled their 2006-07 win output of four.

NJIT's record of 8-9 from January 8 on underlined the young team's improvement as it progressed through its second season at the new level of competition.

The Highlanders closed their 2007-08 season with a 77-72 win in the national Division I Independent Tournament against Utah Valley, the second-seeded team in the tournament. Earlier, NJIT had split the regular season series with Utah Valley, a team that twice beat the Highlanders by 31 points in 2006-07.

Another highlight among the 10 victories, was a win that came against defending America East Conference champion UMBC, 58-44, on November 28.

On January 8 and January 28, NJIT swept a two-game regular season series from a Division I opponent for the first time, taking Texas-Pan American twice in the regular season. Later NJIT grabbed another win from Texas-Pan American, 59-49, in the second round of the National Independent Tournament on March 7.