BOCA RATON, FL—Senior point guard Alyssa Albanese scored a team-high 19 points, leading three double-figure scorers for NJIT Friday afternoon, as the Highlanders rallied back from a 14-point deficit, for a 65-57 women's basketball win over host Florida Atlantic in the Annual FAU Thanksgiving Classic.
 
NJIT (3-3) also got 13 points from Leah Horton and 10 points from Martina Matejcikova.  Guard Kim Tullis grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds while Matejcikova and Horton added six  rebounds apiece.
 
Florida Atlantic's (3-2) sophomore guard Shaneese Bailey scored a game-high 26 points and 17 rebounds.  Guard Ali Gorrell, who came into the game averaging (24.3ppg) was held to just 7 points while Malia Kency, Lauren Williams and Melinda Myers, all scored 6 points for the Owls.
 
Host Florida Atlantic took control early jumping out to a 14-2 advantage in the opening eight minutes of play.  The Highlanders cut the Owls lead down to single digits, 16-9, sparked by a three-point play by Horton followed by a jumper from Matejcikova with less than 11 minutes on the clock.
 
Florida Atlantic took its largest lead of the game, 14, 24-10, on a three-pointer by Kency at the 8:34 mark, but the Highlanders responded on a 7-2 run trimming the Owl lead to 9, 26-17, on a jumper by Alana Dudley.  Dudley scored five points in the Highlanders run.
 
The Owls increased its lead to 10, 31-21, on a fast break layup by Morgan Robinson with less than 3 minutes to go in the first period.
 
The Highlanders finished the first half scoring seven unanswered points from the 2:25 mark to 43 seconds, slimming FAU's lead down to 3, 31-28, heading into halftime.
 
FAU's Bailey led the first half with 12 points and 8 rebounds while NJIT's Horton paced the visitors with 8 points.
 
Florida Atlantic scored the first points of the second half and pushed its lead to six, 40-34, at the 16:08 mark, after a layup by Gorrell.
 
The visitors answered with a 9-4 run sparked by the Highlanders point guard Albanese, as she knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:14 mark and Matejcikova's jumper with 10 minutes left on the clock pulled the Highlanders to within one, 44-43.
 
Florida Atlantic's Lauren Williams knocked down one of two free throws for a two-point advantage, 45-43, but NJIT's Matejcikova scored the next four points, giving the Highlanders its first lead of the contest, 47-45, just under the 8-minute media timeout.
 
NJIT broke a 47-47 tie scoring nine straight points for a 56-47 advantage with 2:15 remaining on the clock.  The Owls would close the Highlander gap to within six on two occasions, the final with 40 seconds, 61-55. 
 
The winners knocked down four straight free throws to seal the game, 65-57.  NJIT shot 74% for the game from the free throw line  (23-for-31) and scored the last 10-out-of-12 points from the charity strip.  
 
The Highlanders will face North Dakota State in the finals on Saturday at 7pm.