Box Score  

 
PRINCESS ANNE, MD—University of Maryland Eastern Shore closed out the final 1:33 on a 7-2 spurt, keying a strong finish to defeat visiting NJIT, 68-61, in women's basketball action Wednesday at W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore, 4-13 after snapping a 10-game skid, was paced by freshman guard Mariah McCoy, who came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points in 29 minutes of action.  McCoy finished the game 10-for-17 from the field, 3-of-8 from behind the arc and 4-of-6 from the free throw line ,while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Guards Jessica Long and Shawnee Sweeney scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Hawks.  Long went 8-of-10 from the free throw line while dishing out a game-high six assists.
 
NJIT (5-19) was led by junior guard Martina Matejcikova's career-high 27 points, as the 5-foot-11 guard from Banska Bystrica, Slovakia shot 10-of-16 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc. 
 
Senior forward Uju Nwankwo was the Highlanders' other double-figure Wednesday, scoring 13 of her 14 points in the second half and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Highlanders, trailing by two at halftime, 26-24, kept the game tight midway through the second half, until the Lady Hawks pushed their lead to six, 44-38, after a 6-2 run from the 12:18 mark to the 9:28 mark.
 
NJIT responded scoring five straight points and closing the UMES gap to one, 44-43, with 7:56 left in the second period on a layup by graduate student Shakia Robinson.
 
UMES answered with nine consecutive points, extending the Lady Hawk lead to double-digits for the first time in the second period, 53-43, after a pair of free throws by Jessica Long.
 
The home team took its largest lead of the second half, 59-48, on a three-pointer by Sweeney with 4:44 left to play. 

NJIT's Matejcikova sparked an 11-2 run for the visitors, as the Highlanders cut the deficit to two, 61-59, on a fast break up bucket by Nwankwo.  Matejcikova scored seven points in the spurt.
 
In the final 1:33 of the game, UMES closed out on a 7-2 run for the 68-61 victory.
 
The Highlanders led the first half by as many as eight, 15-7, on a three-point play by Matejcikova at the 11:23 mark. But the Lady Hawks scored the next 10 unanswered, pulling ahead by two, 17-15.  McCoy scored seven out of 10 points in the Maryland Eastern Shore spurt.
 
NJIT scored on the next possession down the floor for the first tie of the game, 17-17, on a jumper in the paint by Matejcikova. But UMES rallied for six straight points, pushing the lead to six, 23-17, at the 4:25 mark.
 
The Highlanders slimmed the deficit to two, 26-24, ending the first period on a 7-3 run with 56 seconds left until the first intermission.
 
NJIT will return to action on Monday, February 3 at first-time opponent Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 7pm (CT).