Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ—Senior forward Rayven Johnson registered her 25th career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, leading NJIT past Houston Baptist, 65-49, in the final regular season game for both squads Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym.
 
With the win at Houston Baptist the Highlanders, who have won last six of their last seven contests, improve to 14-15 overall, 6-2 in the Great West while the Huskies fall to 6-23 overall, 1-7 in the conference.
 
The 14 wins are the most in a season for NJIT women's basketball since it began Division I competition in 2006-07. 
 
Johnson, a Preseason Great West Conference first-team honoree, posted her 14th double-double of the season, sharing game-high scoring honors with Houston Baptist's Shanice Steenholdt at 21 points. Rayven grabbed 11 reboubds, while posting a new career-high in the assists column, with seven, topping her previous record of five (accomplished five different times last season).
 
Following Johnson in scoring and rebounding was junior forward Uju Nwankwo with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Senior guard Kimberly Dweck added nine points while Kim Tullis came off the bench to post a new career-high with five rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
 
Houston Baptist's Steenholdt posted a double-double of her own with 21 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while teammate Rachel Arthur added nine points.
 
The Highlanders found themselves down 11-3 four minutes into the contest, but rallied back to score the next seven points and trail, 11-10.  The spurt was sparked by back-to-back three pointers by Martina Matejcikova and Kimberly Dweck.
 
Houston Baptist extended its lead to five, 15-10, after one of two free throws by Steenholdt and a three-pointer by Arthur, just under the 12-minute media timeout.
 
NJIT scored the next four points closing the gap to 15-14 on a jumper by Melanie Griffin at the 9:06 mark. But the Huskies answered with five consecutive points, taking a six-point lead, 20-14, after a three-point play by Erin McGarrachan with 8:18 remaining.
 
Griffin knocked down a three-pointer with two seconds left on the shot clock from the left side of the floor, triggering a 12-0 run and putting NJIT up on Huskies, 26-20, with 5:21 on the clock.
 
HBU's Devyn Weymouth ended the Highlanders rally, knocking down one of two from the free throw line with 5:15 remaining for a 26-21 score. 
 
NJIT ended the first half on an 8-4 run for a 34-25 lead heading into the locker room, as HBU's  Steenholdt and NJIT's Johnson each scored nine points in the half.
 
NJIT opening the second half by scoring the opening four points, extending the lead to to 13, 38-25, in the first 2:30 of the final period.. 
 
After a timeout by the Huskies, Houston Baptist went on a 6-2 run cutting the deficit to single-digits, 40-31, with 15:30 after a layup by Steenholdt.
 
NJIT answered with the next five points and held a double-figure advantage the rest of the way, taking its biggest lead of the game, 20, at 62-42, with 3:09 left on a jumper in the paint by Nwankwo
 
The Highlanders will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming 2012-13 Great West Conference Tournament hosted by Chicago State. NJIT will receive a bye and opens play on Friday, March 15 at 12 pm (CDT) against No. 3 Texas-Pan American.  In the regular season, the Highlanders swept the Broncs, 60-55 (Jan. 12 in Newark) and 81-75 in overtime in Edinburg (Feb. 2).