Box Score
 
CHICAGO—Chicago State's Janay Dockery led all scorers with 28 points and seven assists, as the Cougars defeated visiting NJIT, 86-70, in Great West Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center.
 
Dockery, the Cougars senior guard, who was honored in pre-game ceremonies for scoring her 1,000th point against Indiana University Northwest on Wednesday, finished the contest shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line.
 
Chicago State (5-18, 3-2 in Great West) had three players come off the bench and score in double-digits on Saturday – Tierra Williams (12), Caneka Davis (10) and Jasmine Collins (10).  Davis and Collins both finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
 
NJIT (8-14, 2-3 in Great West) was paced by freshman Sarah Olson's 18 points.  Olson combined for 6-of-9 from behind the arc, a new season-high for the rookie.  Olson also grabbed eight rebounds, one shy her career-high against Delaware State on November 23.
 
Following Olson's team-high 18 points was junior Rayven Johnson who notched her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Johnson set a new personal-best dishing out five assists. 
 
Sophomore forward Uju Nwankwo also combined for 14 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes of action off the bench for the Highlanders.  Nwankwo was 7-of-12 from the field.
 
Center Nicole Maticka chipped in eight points and a game-high five blocks, while guard Kimberly Dweck recorded a team-high six assists. As a team, the Highlanders set a new season-high with 19 assists on Saturday. 
 
Freshman Martina Matejcikova, appearing in her second game as a Highlander since joining the squad in January, was perfect from three-point range shooting 3-for-3 and finishing with nine points in 12 minutes off the bench. 
 
Neither team could score in the opening two minutes, until Olson knocked down a three-pointer at the 17:11 mark followed by a jumper by Nwankwo, for an early 5-0 NJIT lead.  Chicago State scored its first points of the contest on a jumper by Chane Wilson-Stewert at the 15:22 mark but Nwankwo scored a minute later pushing the Highlander lead back to five, 7-2.
 
The Cougars used an 8-0 run and took its first lead of the contest, 9-7, at the 11:36 mark on a three-point play by Eliz Kumral.  Matejcikova broke the Cougar rally sinking a three-pointer from the wing, for a 10-9 lead.
 
The game saw five ties over the next six minutes, the final at 19-19, after a pair of free throws by Chicago State's Collins with 6:47 remaining in the first half.  The home team used a 16-2 run over the next four minutes extending the Cougar lead to 14, 35-21, with 2:44 left to go.  Dockery had five points in the run.
 
NJIT's Maticka hit a shot from the baseline to cut the Highlander lead to 12, 35-23, at the 2:18 mark, but the Cougars finished the first half on a 7-2 spurt, for a 42-25 halftime score heading into the locker.
 
Dockery led all scorers at the half with 11 points, followed by eight from Collins.  NJIT had three players finish with six points in the first 20 minutes – Maticka, Olson and Nwankwo.
 
Trailing 42-25 at half, the Highlanders cut the deficit down to 13, 48-35, early in the second half, after a three-pointer by freshman Denisa Domiterova at the 17:07 mark, prompting a Chicago State timeout.  Olson opened up the second half with a three-pointer and Johnson connected on two jumpers in the paint in the run.
 
The home team answered with an 18-7 rally from the 16:07 mark to the 11:17 mark, extending the Cougar lead to 24, 66-42.  Chicago State hit three three-pointers and completed a three-point play in the spurt.
 
NJIT's Olson sank her fifth three-pointer of the game at the 10:45 mark, but the Cougars scored the next nine points taking their biggest lead, 75-45.  Chicago State scored six of the nine points from the free throw line. 
 
A three-pointer by Matejcikova broke the ice at the seven-minute mark, as the Highlanders rattled off the next 11 points, trimming the Cougar lead to 19, 75-56, with 4:50 left.  Nwankwo scored six points in the Highlander run.
 
Chicago State went on a quick 4-2 run before the Highlanders responded knocking down back-to-back three pointers from Matejcikova and Olson and a pair of free throws by Johnson, cutting the Cougar lead to 13 with 1:17 left to go.
 
The Cougars closed out the game on a 7-4 spurt, in the final 1:15 from the free throw line for a 86-70 final score.  Chicago State finished the contest shooting 83 percent from the free throw line (30-for-36).
 
NJIT will travel to Utah Valley and North Dakota next week, first facing the Wolverines on Thursday at 7:05pm (MT) and traveling to North Dakota for a 7pm (CT) tipoff on Saturday.
 
In the first meeting of the season in Newark, both teams defeated the Highlanders – Utah Valley (61-54) and North Dakota (65-55).  North Dakota sits on top of the Great West standings with a 4-1 record with its only loss coming against Utah Valley, while the UVU Wolverines stand in second with a 3-1 record.