Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ—NJIT, which trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, rallied to force overtime and then held visiting Saint Peter's without a basket in the extra five minutes, defeating the Peahens 66-59 Wednesday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Rayven Johnson, who led NJIT (5-5) with 15 points and shared the team rebounding lead with nine, scored one of the biggest baskets of the game on a driving layup that tied the score at 57 with 6.2 seconds remaining in regulation, ultimately forcing the overtime.
 
After a timeout, Saint Peter's (0-9) pushed the ball up court and got a layup try by senior guard Aminah Davis, whose left baseline shot rolled off the back iron at the buzzer, sending the game into five extra minutes.
 
Once in overtime, the Highlanders dominated, 9-2, as Saint Peter's shot 0-for-11 from the field and got its only two points of the period on a pair of Jynae Judson free throws with 4:29 left.
 
All of the NJIT overtime points came from two players—Kimberly Dweck, who scored five, and Melanie Griffin, who scored four.
 
The Highlanders, who allowed 18 offensive rebounds in regulation, held the visitors to just two offensive rebounds in overtime. At the same time, NJIT secured nine defensive rebounds in the period, resulting in a lot of one-and-done possessions for the Peahens. Uju Nwankwo, who tied Johnson for the team game rebounding lead, at nine, grabbed three defensive rebounds in overtime, followed by two defensive boards for Griffin.
 
Saint Peter's, which led at the half, 30-23, and held three different 10-point leads in the second half, lost despite stellar double-double efforts by seniors Jynae Judson (25 points, 15 rebounds) and Quiana Porter (career-high 20 points, 10 rebounds).
 
With 25 rebounds combined from Judson and Porter, SPC dominated the final rebounding totals, 55-41, although not so much in overtime.
 
While getting the combined 45 points from Judson and Porter, Saint Peter's managed just 14 points from the rest of its team, including just eight after the first half. The bench scoring favored the Highlanders, 12-3.
 
NJIT followed Johnson's team-best 15 points with two other double-figure scorers. Freshman Sarah Olson, who had been in a four-game scoring funk in which her high game had been seven points, finished with 13 points vs. Saint Peter's, including three 3-point baskets, while Griffin added 10 points.
 
Nwankwo finished with eight points and nine rebounds, while notching a game-high and personal career high-tying five blocks.
 
Freshman Denisa Domitrova gave the Highlanders a huge lift off the bench, connecting on three 3-point shots, all in the second-half rally and all big, to finish with nine points in 11 minutes of action.
 
Dweck, the junior point guard, added eight points—five in OT--five rebounds and a game-high five assists for NJIT.
 
Saint Peter's, which came in shooting a poor 31 percent from the field in its opening eight games, made nearly half of its shots in building a 30-23 halftime lead. The Peahens, with 12 points each for Judson and Porter, shot 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) from the field in the first half.
 
Looking a bit closer, they were 0-for-4 on threes in the half, so Saint Peter's was 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) inside the arc. The result was an overwhelming 22-6 scoring advantage in the paint in the first half.
 
Saint Peter's cooled to 7-for-30 from the field in the second half, 0-for-11 in overtime and the scoring in the paint after halftime was 11-8 for the Highlanders.
 
Even so, the first half was close, with two ties and six lead changes, as NJIT stayed in it largely on the strength of 4-for-5 shooting in 3-pointers, led by Olson, who scored six of her team-high eight first-half points on a pair of threes.
 
NJIT's biggest lead of the half was four, 20-16, on a pair of Nicole Maticka free throws with 5:42 on the clock. Saint Peter's answered with a 10-0 run, paced by six points for Judson.
 
On top for the last 4:21 of the opening half, the Peahens outscored NJIT, 14-3, after the Maticka free throws, claiming their biggest lead of the half on Judson's jumper at the buzzer that made the score 30-23.
 
Saint Peter's continued its late first-half momentum into the second half, going up by 10, 35-25, when Judson hit what would be her team's only 3-pointer of the day (1-for-12)  1:03 into the second half.
 
The Peahens also claimed 10-point leads at 17:10 and 15:20, but NJIT, which has shown the ability to spurt, erased nine points of the 10-point lead in less than three minutes, pulling to within one point, 38-37, when Nwankwo sunk two free throws with 12:05 left.
 
Saint Peter's answered with a 6-0 spurt of its own and took a 44-37 advantage when Porter made two foul shots at 9:54.
 
That's when Domiterova first put her stamp on the game for the Highlanders. Subbed in at 9:24, the freshman nailed a three 15 seconds later.
 
Saint Peter's still led by six, 49-43, when Domiterova pulled up on a fast break and connected from the top of the key for her second three, with 6:13 left.
 
Olson hit two foul shots 24 seconds later and Domiterova hit her third trey for a 51-49 NJIT lead with 5:16 left. Johnson then capped the 10-0 run with a jump shot that gave her team a 53-49 edge with 3:53 left.
 
However, Saint Peter's wasn't done and the Peahens claimed a 56-55 lead on an old school 3-point play that featured a strong second effort by Porter. Her first try was blocked by Nwankwo,  but Porter stayed with it and scored on the second chance, despite being fouled by Nwankwo. Porter converted the free throw for the one-point lead with 2:26 left.
 
Khadijah Young hit the second of two free throws to give Saint Peter's a 57-55 lead with 20.5 seconds left. That point, too, resulted from Porter's effort. Seconds earlier, Judson's drive came off the rim and Porter controlled, kicking to Young on the perimeter, where she quickly was fouled to prevent her from dribbling out the clock.
 
Down two points, NJIT, after a timeout, got the ball to Johnson at the foul line extended on the left of the circle. She drove across the key and down the lane, powering her way to a shot that banked in as she fell to the floor with 6.2 seconds left.
 
With the score tied, Saint Peter's advanced the ball quickly and might have had time for a followup shot, except the entry pass was juggled for a moment before it rolled to Davis on the baseline. Her short try was definitely in time, but it was never in the cylinder, pausing for an instant before rolling harmlessly off the back iron.
 
NJIT scored first on the second shot in overtime, as Dweck hit a jump shot to give the Highlanders the lead.
 
Judson's two foul shots, the only points of the period for the visitors, tied the score at 59, before the teams each had two empty possessions.
 
Finally, Griffin hit a jumper to put NJIT on top to stay, 61-59, with 2:54 left. Dweck struck again at 2:02 and then the Highlanders made three foul shots in the last 44 seconds to ice the win.
 
NJIT, which has enjoyed its time on Fleisher Family Court, with eight home games in the first 10 games, will spend its next nine contests on the road.
 
The Highlanders will take to the road having proven themselves in close home games. Their four home wins have been exceptionally close—by four points over Brown; by three over Wagner; by one over Bucknell; and now, the overtime win against Saint Peter's.
 
The nine-game odyssey for the Highlanders will begin with a first-ever meeting against Minnesota of the elite Big Ten Conference. The game, in Minneapolis, is Friday at 7 pm (CST).
 
The next NJIT home game is also the third Great West Conference game, when the Highlanders host North Dakota on Thursday, January 26 at 7 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.