Box Score 

 
BETHLEHEM, PA – Lehigh won its third straight game and three players reached double-figures Wednesday as the Mountain Hawks prevailed, 61-37, over visiting NJIT in women's basketball non-conference action at Stabler Arena.
 
Lehigh (5-6), was led by senior Alexa Williams with a game-high 13 points and 12 rebounds finishing 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free throw line.  Williams' 13 points and 12 rebounds is her second double-double of the season.   
 
Emily Gratch, the Mountain Hawks senior forward, who made her first start of the season against Valparaiso on December 3 after missing the first eight games due to a broken bone in her wrist, came off the bench Wednesday and posted her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
 
The Mountain Hawks other double-figure scorer was Kelly Peterson, who added 11 points while Katie O'Reilly and Aly Byorick posted eight points apiece for the home team.
 
NJIT (4-3) was led by freshman Alyssa Albanese's career-high 10 points followed by sophomore Uju Nwankwo with nine points and five rebounds. 

Freshman Nicole Maticka added five points and three blocks, raising her season total to 23 blocks, a new NJIT Division I single-season record, seven games into the season.
 
The Highlanders, who were coming off a 54-53 home victory to Bucknell Saturday, were held to 16 first-half points against Lehigh. 
 
In fact, NJIT led early in the contest, 11-7, on back-to-back layups by Albanese at the 11:39 mark, until Lehigh used a 15-0 run over the next eight minutes to go ahead, 11, 22-11, with 4:12 remaining. 
 
Albanese ended the Highlander drought knocking down two free throws with 2:35 on the clock, cutting the lead down to single-digits, 22-13. But Lehigh closed out the half on a 10-3 spurt for a 32-16 halftime score.
 
Lehigh's Gratch was the leader at the half with 10 points while Albanese led the way for NJIT scoring eight of her career-high 10 points in the first half.
 
The Mountains Hawks opened up the second half scoring the first 10 points extending its lead to 26, 42-16, on a layup by Williams.  Williams scored six of Lehigh's 10 points.
 
The Highlanders' first points of the second half came from the free throw line at 13:40 on the clock, as junior guard Melanie Griffin hit one of two from the free throw line. 
 
After a layup by Lehigh's Becky Guman at 13:27, NJIT rallied off 11 straight points sparked by a jumper just outside the paint by Rayven Johnson at the 13:06 mark and the Highlanders cut the deficit to 16, 44-28, with 9:29 on the clock, on a three-pointer by Nicole Maticka, the closest the visitors would come to Lehigh.
 
NJIT will play its next three games at home as the Highlanders will host Rider on Sunday at 2pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.  This will be the first meeting between the two schools.  Rider comes into Sunday's contest with a 4-4 record.