Box Score
 
BETHLEHEM, PA—Lehigh's Sarah Williams knocked down a three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining, breaking a 72-72 tie and Lehigh slipped past visiting NJIT, 77-72, Monday evening at Stabler Arena.
 
Lehigh improves to 2-0, while NJIT falls to 0-2 on the young season.
 
The Mountain Hawks finished the contest with four players reaching double-figure scoring,  paced by sophomore forward Kerry Kinek's team-leading 20 points and 12 rebounds, her first double-double of the season. Katie O'Reilly followed with 15 points, while Williams and freshman Lexi Martins each added 10 points. 
 
NJIT's graduate student Shakia Robinson led the Highlanders, scoring a game-high 21 points, shooting 10-of-12 from the field while grabbing five rebounds.  Martina Matejcikova scored a career-high 17 points, finishing 6-of-10 from the field, 3-for-6 from three-point range while grabbing six rebounds and three assists.
 
Senior forward Uju Nwankwo just missed recording a double-double, netting nine points and10 rebounds to go along with a game-high two blocks.  The 10 rebounds is the second straight double-digit rebound game for the senior.
 
Freshman Ruta Vetra and junior Nicole Maticka added seven and six points, respectively, for NJIT, while Camerin Spahn and Alyssa Albanese added five points apiece.  Albanese dished out a career-high 8 assists Monday surpassing her old mark of 7 against Utah Valley on January 26, 2013.
 
Lehigh started the contest on a 4-0 run, but the Highlanders answered by scoring the next five points for a 5-4 lead in the opening minutes. 
 
The Mountain Hawks scored six consecutive points for an 11-5 advantage at the 15:36 mark. After a Maticka jumper got the Highlanders back to 13-9, Lehigh ran off  the next six, pulling ahead by double-digits, 19-9, after four consecutive free throws. 

NJIT's Matejcikova broke the scoring drought, sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers to vcap am an 11-0 run that put the Highlanders up 20-19 with 9:14 remaining in the half.
 
Both teams went back-and-forth until Lehigh's Elizabeth Sharlow sank a pair of free throws at the 6:02 mark to go up, 29-28.  NJIT scored seven unanswered points for a 35-29 advantage with 3:47 left to go in the first period.
 
NJIT led at the half, 39-34, paced by Matejcikova's 15 points, while O'Reilly led the Mountain Hawks with 8.
 
In the second half, the Highlanders gradually extended their lead to as many as 10, 53-43 at the 12:42 mark after a pair of free throws made by Vetra. 

Freshman Kiernan McCloskey sparked a 7-0 Mountain Hawks run on a jumper in the paint at the 12:30 mark, pulling Lehigh within three, 53-50.
 
Just under the 8-minute media timeout, a layup by Lehigh's O'Reilly tied the contest for the seventh time, at 58 apiece.  The contest saw three more ties and 11 lead changes with the final lock at 72.

Williams broke the final tie on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 25 seconds to go,  giving Lehigh a75-72 advantage.
 
After a timeout by the Highlanders, NJIT came downcourt, but came up short with a missed three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining.
 
NJIT will have a quick turnaround and return to action on Wednesday at 7pm when the Highlanders host New Hampshire at the Fleisher Athletic Center.  The teams last met at the Cyclone Challenge hosted by Iowa State on December 30, 2011 in the consolation game with New Hampshire defeating NJIT, 79-71.