Box Score

NEWARK, NJ—Emily Homan scored a game-high 18 points for visiting Lafayette, which held NJIT under 30 percent shooting in a 61-45 women's basketball win for the Leopards Thursday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Homan, a 6-foot-3 junior who shot 7-for-11 from the floor and made all four of her free throws, was one of two double-figure scorers for the Leopards (6-2). Senior guard Madeline Fahan, one of eight Lafayette players to see action off the bench before the first half was complete, added 14 points and a team-leading 8 rebounds. She made five of her seven shots from the floor.
 
Lafayette, which never trailed on Thursday, is off to a strong start made all the more impressive by the fact that the two losses were on the road against teams from power conferences. The Leopards lost at Villanova of the Big East and at Northwestern of the Big Ten and then only by two points, 66-64, in Evanston, IL.
 
NJIT (2-8) had one double-figure scorer, junior Denisa Domiterova, who came off the bench for 11 points, nine of which came on 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point distance. Senior Uju Nwankwo added 9 points and a team-best 8 rebounds for the Highlanders.
 
For the most part, NJIT played well enough on defense, holding Lafayette to 61 points and 44 percent shooting while turning the Leopards over 16 times. Even with that, it was a challenge for the Highlanders to make headway when they were outrebounded 41-31 and made just 28.6 percent of their shots from the field (16-for-56).
 
Indeed, NJIT did well do trail by just 5 points halftime, 27-22, after making just 8 of 30 first-half shots (26.7 percent).
 
The Leopards were paced in the opening 20 minutes by Homan's 8 points. Danielle Fiacco, a 6-foot-7 senior center, led Lafayette on the boards, with 5 rebounds, while senior guard Fahan pulled down 4.
 
NJIT's top first-half scorer was Domiterova, who shot 2-for-3 from 3-point distance in 11 minutes off the bench. Nwankwo led the Highlanders in first-half rebounds, tying Lafayette's Fiacco with 5 in the first half.
 
Lafayette scored the game's first seven points and still led 15-6 , before Martina Matejcikova made a layup and Domiterova drained a three to put NJIT in double-figures down 15-11 with 9:18 left in the half.
 
The Leopards extended the lead back to 11 a bit later, but Domiterova's second bucket from downtown pulled the Highlanders to within 3 at 25-22 with 1:06 left, but Fiacco answered with a basket at the other end the Leopards went into the locker room ahead, 27-22.
 
The Highlanders made some noise in the second half, cutting the Lafayette lead to 37-33 on a layup for Shakia Robinson with 13:06 left in the game. But Lafayette responded with seven straight points on a 3-pointer for Brya Freeland, a layup by Fahan, and a jump shot by Linnel Macklin that made it 44-33 with 10:41 left.
 
After that, the Highlanders only cut the deficit under 10 two more times the rest of the way—the first on a layup by Alana Dudley (8 points) that closed the gap to 9 and finally on Robinson layup with 5:44 remaining to pull NJIT to within 9 points again.
 
NJIT, which has played seven of its first 10 games away from home, will head back on the road for a Saturday 2 pm game at the University of Rhode Island.