Box Score

 
EDINBURG, TX – A layup by Rayven Johnson with 7.4 seconds remaining lifted NJIT past Texas-Pan American, 41-40, in Great West Conference women's basketball action Saturday evening at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
 
Texas-Pan American led the Highlanders all the way until 7.4 seconds was left on the clock when Johnson scored the game-winning basket giving the visitors a 41-40 lead.  Johnson collected herself at the top of the key, drove down the right lane and missed her first shot, but the determined junior guard pulled down the rebound and went up strong scoring on her second attempt.
 
With six seconds left on the clock, Texas-Pan American's Bianca Torre dribbled the length of the floor to the baseline attempting to put up the last second shot but dished off to an open Donna Jackson in the paint. Jackson's jump shot hit the front of the rim as time expired.
 
NJIT (8-11 overall, 2-0 in Great West) has won its last three out of four contests and second straight with Saturday's victory.  The Highlanders opened Great West Conference play on Thursday at Houston Baptist with a 69-52 win.
 
The Highlanders were paced by Johnson, who posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  The junior scored 12 of her team-high 13 points in the second half.  Classmate Melanie Griffin put together a strong performance with 10 points, five rebounds and game-high five assists.
 
Freshman Nicole Maticka added eight points and five rebounds while junior guard Kimberly Dweck chipped in seven points.  Sophomore forward Uju Nwankwo grabbed eight rebounds and game-high three blocks in 27 minutes of action off the bench.
 
Texas-Pan American (8-11, 1-1 in Great West) had only one double-figure scorer in the game, led by a game-high 14 points from Torre. Jackson finished with nine points and seven rebounds while senior forward Adanna Opara grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench for the Broncs.
 
Trailing 26-15 at the half, NJIT opened up the second period on a 13-4 run.  The Broncs scored four points in the first 2:10 and went scoreless over the next 8:15.  The Highlanders rally started at the 18:06 mark by Johnson on a traditional three-point play and ended on a jumper from Griffin at 12:38, for the first tie of the contest, 30-30.
 
The Broncs scored the next four points taking a four-point lead, 34-30, on a short jumper by Opara.  Neither team scored for the next 4:12 until Johnson broke the ice with a layup with 5:25 left to go. 
 
Torre put her team up five by knocking down a three-pointer just under the 5-minute mark, 37-32, but on the next play down the court, NJIT's Denisa Domiterova sank her only points of the contest at the 4:39 mark from behind the arc trimming the lead down to two, 37-35.  Torre answered with her fourth three of the contest 21 seconds later pushing the Broncs lead back up to five, 40-35, with 4:18 left to go.
 
Over the next 3:04, neither team could buy a basket until Maticka scored on a put back off a missed layup at the 1:14 mark, 40-37.  Torre, who was fouled in the backcourt by the Highlanders, stepped up to the free throw line with 30 seconds and missed the front end of a one-and-one.  NJIT's Griffin grabbed the rebound and dribbled the length of the floor scoring with 23 seconds remaining, 40-39. 
 
NJIT has now had six regulation games decided by four points (or fewer) in regulation, plus one overtime game.  The Highlanders are 6-1 in close games with the only setback at the buzzer against Longwood, 72-71, on January 14.

The Highlanders will return home to the Fleisher Athletic Center after a nine-game road trip and host Great West Conference opponents North Dakota on Thursday and Utah Valley on Saturday, which will also be Alumnae Day.
 
Last season, the Highlanders were downed by North Dakota three times (two games in the regular season and in the first round of the conference tournament) and split with Utah Valley.