Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ – Senior guard Rayven Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, leading the NJIT women's basketball team to a 77-48 victory over Houston Baptist Saturday afternoon at the Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The victory was the fourth in the last five games for the Highlanders, who improved to 12-15 overall and 4-2 in the Great West Conference. Houston Baptist fell to 4-19 overall and 0-4 in the Great West.
 
The Highlanders were particularly dominant on the backboards, collecting an astounding 67 rebounds. The Highlanders had 29 offensive rebounds matching Houston Baptist's entire rebound total.
 
“I've never seen a box score with a team in the 60s in rebounds,” said NJIT head women's coach Steve Lanpher. “It's a tremendous job. We've been focusing on rebounding. It had been a weakness for us. Now, it's a strength. I think we can beat anyone in the conference if we rebound. It was just an overall great team effort.”
 
The 60 rebounds is a new NJIT Division I single-game record.  The Highlanders surpass the old mark of 54 rebounds at Texas-Pan American on February 19, 2011.
 
Johnson, who led all scorers with 20 points, registered her 13^th double-double of the season and 24th of her career, matching the NJIT Division I single-game record (held by Johnson) with 17 rebounds.  Johnson set the record this season at Texas-Pan American on February 2.
 
Besides Johnson's incredible rebounding effort, the Highlanders received 14 rebounds from sophomore forward Uju Nwankwo and eight rebounds from sophomore guard Sarah Olson.
 
Nwankwo also tallied seven points and Olson had eight points.
 
“I think we just wore Houston Baptist down,” Lanpher said. “Sarah Olson did a great overall job for us, getting those rebounds.”
 
Sophomore guard Denisa Domiterova had nine points, while sophomore center Nicole Maticka and sophomore forward Martina Matejcikova added seven points each.
Lanpher was singing the praises of Johnson.
 
“Rayven was just being Rayven,” Lanpher said. “I think if we can get first place in the league, then she deserves serious consideration for the league's Player of the Year.”
 
All 11 players who saw action for the Highlanders scored at least one point.
 
Lanpher also praised the play of senior guard Kimberly Dweck.
 
“Kim did a great job of running the team, enabling us to play at a high level,” Lanpher said. “She was aware of the time and the score at all times.”
 
Lanpher is happy with the way the Highlanders are performing as the season winds down.
 
“As a coach, you want your team to peak as close to possible to the Great West Tournament,” Lanpher said. “We're playing our best basketball right now.”
 
The Highlanders took command of the game early on, scoring the game's first nine points, capped by a long 3-pointer from Domiterova with 13:43 remaining in the half.
 
Sophomore guard Olson drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner that pushed the Highlanders' lead to 18-8 with 8:33 left before intermission.
 
Olson had a rebound basket that gave the Highlanders a 25-10 lead with 5:29 left and Johnson had a rebound bucket that pushed the lead to 35-15 with 2:27 left, the largest lead of the first half for NJIT.
 
The Highlanders had a huge rebound differential, getting 34 rebounds to just 11 for Houston Baptist. The Highlanders had 16 offensive boards, five more than Houston Baptist's entire total for the half. Johnson had nine rebounds at the half and Nwankwo had seven. It was a season-high for rebounds in a half for the Highlanders.
 
Also, eight different NJIT players reached the scoring column in the first half.
 
NJIT held a 38-19 advantage at the break and cruised from there, leading by 32 at one point.
 
The Highlanders have a little quirk in the schedule right now, considering they will not play again for 13 days. They return to action on March 2 against Chicago State at home.
 
“We're on a little break right now,” Lanpher said. “We will take a couple days off and tweak some things.”
 
It was “Pink Day” at the Fleisher Athletic Center, with the Highlanders donning  pink uniforms and all proceeds of the game went to the Play4Kay Foundation, a non-profit group that raises money for cancer research in honor of the late Kay Yow, the legendary women's basketball coach at North Carolina State.

Write-up courtesy James Hague