Box Score 
 
PHILADELPHIA – NJIT freshman Nicole Maticka broke a 41-41 tie with 4:25 remaining in the game and the Highlanders never trailed the rest of the way for a 52-48 women's basketball win over University of Pennsylvania at The Palestra.
 
Maticka, standing at 6-foot-3, connected on an old-fashion three-point play after knocking down a jumper from the elbow to give the visitors a three-point lead, 44-41.
 
The Highlanders extended its lead to as many as five on three occasions in the final 2:47, the first on a three-pointer by freshman Denisa Domiterova from the left wing, 47-42.  Penn's Alyssa Baron answered on the next possession by sinking a pair of free throws, pulling the home team within three, 47-44.
 
Junior Kimberly Dweck pushed the Highlander lead back up to five, 49-44, after the 5-foot-6 guard tipped in her own shot after a running layup down the middle of the paint just under the two minute mark.
 
The Quakers fought back and cut the deficit to two, 50-48, on a pair of free throws by Baron with 11 seconds remaining.
 
After NJIT's Dweck was fouled and hit one of two free throws, 51-48, Penn's head coach called for a timeout. The Quakers had an opportunity to tie the game on a three-pointer by Katie Davis from the left corner but Davis's shot fell short.
 
The Highlanders (6-10) were paced by Maticka's team-high 15 points, game-high six blocks, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.  She finished the night 6-for-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.  Maticka, who is ranked 13^th in the nation in blocks per game (2.8) raised her season total to 48.
 
Domiterova chipped in 13 points, 10 coming in the second half after shooting 4-of-9 from behind the arc while grabbing six rebounds.  Dweck added nine points and sophomore forward Uju Nwankwo totaled eight points, eight rebounds (a team-high) and four assists in the victory.
 
Penn (7-5) was led by Baron's game-high 17 points followed by Renee Busch's 10.  Bonenberger added nine points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds as the home team held a 48-32 advantage on the glass.  Kristen Kody grabbed seven rebounds and three different Quakers finished with five.
 
NJIT led by a score of 7-3 in the opening three minutes of the contest but the Quakers put together a 12-2 spurt and went ahead by six, 15-9, on a trey ball by Busch at the 11:36 mark.
 
Both teams went cold from 10:38 to the 7:10 mark until NJIT's Nwankwo scored a layup closing the gap to four, 17-13.  Penn's Baron broke the ice with 5:35 remaining on a jumper in the paint, 19-13.  NJIT closed out the final 4:41 on a 6-2 run, for a 21-19 halftime score in favor of the Quakers.
 
Next up for the Highlanders is a 2pm tipoff at Longwood on Saturday, January 14 in Farmville, VA.  The last time both teams met was in 2008-09.  Longwood defeated NJIT 84-80 on February 4 in Farmville, VA and NJIT returned the favor in Newark with an 83-67 win on February 14.