NEWARK, NJ—Senior guard Jasmin Dixon scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in a 14-1 closing rally in the last 3:06 that saw visiting Chicago State pull out a 66-64 women's basketball win over NJIT Saturday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Dixon was relatively quiet for most of the game, collecting 12 points through the first 36:36. But she doubled her output in the remaining 3:24, accounting for 12 of the Cougars' last 16 points.

Sophomore forward Courtney Waldon added 21 points, including 15 on five three-point baskets and junior forward Laureen Pierson came off the bench for a double-double on  13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the visitors.

NJIT, which played for the first time since January 28, was led on the scoresheet by junior twin sisters Taiwo Oyelola and Kehinde Oyelola. Taiwo scored 19 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-5 on three-pointers, plus a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line. Kehinde, who fouled out with 2:08 remaining, added 15 points, which included 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

Taiwo Oyelola and junior Katie Piekielski shared the team rebounding lead with eight apiece. Senior Jackie McCaffrey made a game-high four steals for the Highlanders.

The Highlanders playing without injured leading scorer Jessica Gerald (16.7 ppg), began the game on fire from three-point distance. NJIT built a 36-29 halftime lead largely on the strength of 8-for-16 shooting from three-point range.  Kehinde Oyelola was 3-for-3 and Taiwo Oyelola and Jill Dickinson were each 2-for-4 from downtown.

Kehinde Oyelola netted 11 first-half points, while Taiwo Oyelola had 10. Chicago State's Waldron, who scored 22 against NJIT in her teams's 71-60 win in Chicago on January 17, led all scorers at halftime Saturday with 13 points.

Although the Highlanders managed just two second-half three-pointers, they extended their lead to as many 13 points on three different occasions in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Down 12 after NJIT's Taiwo Oyelola made it 55-43 with 8:55 left, Chicago State went on a 7-0 run that included a layup for Dixon, a three-pointer for Waldron and two free throws by Dixon that closed the score to 55-50 with 7:11 remaining.

But the Oyelola twins responded with six unanswered points in 1:05, capped by Taiwo's layup that pushed NJIT's advantage back to 11 points, 61-50.

The Highlanders still led by 11, 63-52, after McCaffrey's two free throws with 3:25 left. But NJIT managed just one point the rest of the way. The Highlanders, who made 11 of their first 13 free throws, were 1-for-5 at the line in the final 1:46, as they tried in vain to protect their lead.

With all that, Chicago State, which had trailed since NJIT's McCaffrey hit a three-pointer to make it 9-6 at the 14:36 mark of the first half, did not tie the score again until Dixon's bucket with 13 seconds left knotted the score at 64 apiece.

NJIT brought the ball into the frontcourt and coach Margaret McKeon called timeout to set up a final play with 8.8 seconds remaining. However, Dixon stole NJIT's inbound pass near midcourt and raced to the basket for what proved to be the game-winning breakaway layup with just over four seconds left.

The Highlanders could not get off a shot before the final buzzer.

NJIT, in the midst of a four-game homestand after playing just three of the first 19 games at home, will host Utah Valley on Thursday at 6 pm in the Prudential Center. That game, the last one this season for NJIT in the downtown Newark arena, is part of a doubleheader and will be followed at 8 pm by a men's game between NJIT and Utah Valley.