Box Score
ALBANY, NY – NJIT's defense held University at Albany scoreless in the second half over nine minutes en route to a 58-47 victory in women's basketball action at the SEFCU Arena Tuesday night.
Albany's basket at 11:08 in the second half by Shelby Coon was the last field goal made by the Great Dane's until the 2:05 mark when Jaena Aiken broke the scoring drought on a lay-up. Aiken scored the last six points of the game for Albany.
The Highlanders recorded its second win of the season having two double-figure scorers on the night led by sophomore guard Jessica Gerald scoring a game-high 20 points – 15 coming in the second half. Gerald sank nine at the free throw line and nine from behind the arc.
Kehinde Oyelola came off the bench for NJIT collecting 12 points in 18 minutes of action. Senior Jill Dickinson and forward Taiwo Oyelola each added nine points.
Ivana Seric and senior captain Jackie McCaffrey pulled down six rebounds apiece to lead NJIT, which had a 34-27 advantage on the boards over the home team.
Dickinson and sophomore Adriana Johnson shared game-high honors with Albany's Britney McGee dishing out three assists. Dickinson and McGee each added three steals.
The only double-figure scorer for Albany was sophomore guard Aiken, who finished with 18 points on a 9-for-15 shooting from the floor. Coon pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
NJIT took control of the game taking a 20-9 advantage, making the first eight shots of the game, led by Kehinde Oyelola with eight points and Dickinson with six. Dickinson's six points came from behind the arc.
Albany fought back bringing the score to within two on three different occasions, the last coming at 6:09 on a jumper by Tabitha Makopondo, to make the score 24-22 in favor of the visitor's.
Both teams went back and forth in the closing minutes of the first half as NJIT found themselves up by four with 1:51 on free throws made by Gerald, 28-24 but Albany scored the last basket of the half with one minute left on a lay-up by Adrienne Jones.
Leading by two at halftime, 28-26, NJIT put together a 7-0 run over the first five minutes of the half, taking a 37-28 lead on a three-pointer by Gerald at 16:09.
The closet the Great Danes would get to the Highlanders was two on a three-point play by Coon with 11:08 to play, 41-39. Over the next nine minutes, the Highlanders held Albany scoreless keeping the game out of reach.
The Highlanders will return to action on Thursday, December 18, when they host Lehigh in downtown Newark's Prudential Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm.
