NEWARK, NJ– Senior center Nicole Maticka scored 12 points and collected a season-high seven blocked shots to increase her all-time school record to 187, but it came in a losing effort, as LIU Brooklyn put on a defensive show in the second half and came away with a 57-48 victory over the Highlanders Thursday night at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The win was the first of the season for the Blackbirds (1-6). The Highlanders lost for their second straight game and dropped to 5-6 overall.
 
In the game, senior guard Alyssa Albanese had five assists, becoming the school's all-time Division I assist leader with 277 assists, surpassing Ivana Seric (class of 2011) total of 275.
 
Freshman guard Paris Jones came up big for LIU Brooklyn, scoring all of her 10 points in the second half.
 
Jones, who was scoreless in four minutes in the first half, hit the two biggest shots of the game.
Her second 3-pointer of the second half, a shot off the glass from beyond the top of the key, gave the Blackbirds a commanding 48-39 lead with 3:12 remaining.
 
The Highlanders drew to within five at 51-46 with 30.5 seconds left on a driving layup from sophomore guard Alana Dudley, who came off the bench to score 12 points.
 
But the Blackbirds held off any late charge in the final minute to secure the win, 57-48.
 
Junior guard Sophie Bhasin, who had a game-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, made four free throws in the final 30 seconds to nail down the Blackbirds' first win of the season.
 
Jones' driving layup with 10:10 remaining gave the Blackbirds a 35-34 lead, a lead they held for the remainder of the game.
 
Senior guard Letava Whippy also hit two clutch shots for the Blackbirds down the stretch. Whippy's drive and layup gave the Blackbirds a 42-39 lead with 5:10 left.
 
The Highlanders got off to a strong start, using the 3-point shot to their advantage.
Maticka made two straight 3-point field goals to give the Highlanders an early 8-2 lead.
 
Then sophomore forward Camerin Spahn came off the bench to nail a trey off the glass to push the lead to 11-5 with 12:40 remaining in the first half.
 
Alana Dudley drained a long 3-pointer to push the lead to 18-9, followed by Albanese, who made two free throws with 9:58 left, giving the Highlanders a commanding 20-9 lead.
At that point, the lid went on the Highlanders' basket and NJIT did not score a field goal for the remainder of the half, recording only a free throw from Spahn with 1:38 left and a free throw from Albanese with 48 seconds left.
 
The Blackbirds drew to within two at 22-20 on a rebound basket by Bhasin with 22 seconds left, where the score remained at the break.
 
Maticka led the Highlanders with six points at the half, with Albanese adding five, all from the free throw line. The Highlanders made just 6-of-24 from the floor in the first half (25 percent), but were 4-of-10 (40 percent) from 3-point range.
 
The Highlanders are on the road for the remainder of the 2014 season, playing four games away from the Fleisher Athletic Center against St. John's, Seton Hall, Lafayette and Clemson in 2014.
 
NJIT will open the New Year on the road against Wofford, then return home on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m., when they play host to Chicago State.
 
Recap courtesy James Hague