Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. – The Colgate women's basketball team furiously erased a 12-point deficit late in the second half, but a 3-pointer with seven seconds left from NJIT gave the Highlanders the 53-51 win here Tuesday night.

Colgate (6-18) got 21 points from Lynch on 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc, while Josie Stockill had a good all-around game with 11 points, a team-high nine boards and five blocks, which tied her career high. The Raiders shot the ball extremely well in the second half from three-point land, going 5-for-8, but the final try wouldn't go down at the buzzer.

“We dug ourselves a deficit in the second half, “ head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “It's been a problem our team has had recently, the last nine or 10 games. They came out and hit their first three baskets and we had no urgency, but we fought back like crazy and had a great effort.” 

NJIT (11-14) was led by Rayven Johnson, who was a force all game long with 19 points and a game-high 16 boards – nine coming on the offensive glass. Martina Matejcikova only had seven points, but her lone 3-pointer of the night went in when it counted to give the Highlanders the 53-51 win.

The teams started the game by trading baskets and NJIT led early at 6-4 with four points from Ugu Nwankoo and Johnson, while Colgate got a hoop from Mariah Jones and two free throws by Lynch. Both squads struggled to get points over the next few minutes, and then Johnson put the Highlanders up 12-9 at the 11:49 mark with a 3-pointer and a bucket from the line.

Six Straight Points
The Raiders then took control with six-straight points thanks to excellent passing in its offensive sets. Carole Harris rolled to the hoop and was hit by Lauryn Kobiela for two and then Josie Stockill hit a layup and a jumper to give Colgate a 15-12 lead with 9:55 remaining in the opening half.

The Highlanders responded with a 7-0 run to retake the lead with four minutes left, highlighted by a tray from Denisa Domiterova, who sunk two big shots from beyond the arc to give NJIT a 22-20 at the half.

The opening half featured a lot of defense with each team combining for 11 blocks, with Stockill and Nwankoo leading the way for their respective teams with four apiece. The six blocks for the Raiders tied a season-high. Lynch and Randyll Butler stepped in to make two steals each in the first 20 minutes.

The Raiders dug themselves into a hole early in the second half, which was a continuation of the final five minutes of the first half. Including those final five minutes, NJIT went on a 20-3 run to open up its largest lead at 35-23 with 13:33 remaining in the game.

Colgate chipped away at the margin and got it down to seven at 35-28 with a layup from Harris, but the Highlanders answered with four-straight points to push the advantage back to double digits at 39-28.

Comeback Begins
The Raiders then began to make their move with three consecutive 3-pointers, including two from Lynch and a deep three from Jones to slice the Highlander advantage to two at 39-37 with eight minutes remaining. It took Colgate less than two minutes to cut it to two points.

The Highlanders held onto their advantage, but Lynch's third 3-pointer of the second half got the Raiders within one at 48-47 and then a Stockill layup put the Raiders in front for the first time since midway through the first half at 49-48. The back-and-forth continued until Matejcikova got open from deep and netted a tray with eight seconds left to go ahead, 53-51.

Lynch had one more chance at tying the game as she rushed up the court and got space between herself the defender, but her jumper hit iron and bounced out as the Highlanders escaped with the victory.

“We made it hard on ourselves after the beginning of the second half,” said Hays Fort. “We just need to find a way right now.”

The Raiders shot 33 percent from the field, including 43.8 from beyond the arc. The game was a very defensive contest, with the teams earning a combined 21 blocks with Colgate nearly doubling its pervious season high with 10 deflections.

Next up for the Raiders is a visit from American on Saturday at Cotterell Court. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.