NEWARK, NJ—Sophomore forward Leah Horton scored 15 points, 12 in the first half, and grabbed eight rebounds, leading NJIT to a 60-54 victory over Wagner in women's basketball action Tuesday night at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

In holding off a furious second-half comeback from Wagner, the Highlanders improved to 4-4 overall and won for the third time in their last four games. The Seahawks remain winless on the season, falling to 0-6 overall.

Other than Horton's contributions, the Highlanders received 13 points each from senior Nicole Maticka and sophomore guard Alana Dudley, who also added seven rebounds.  Maticka, the 6-foot-3 center, added four blocks to her career for a total of 179, one shy of a new NJIT Division I record.

Wagner was led by 20 points from Jasmine Nwajei and 15 from Jordyn Peck, 13 of which came after halftime.

The Highlanders took early command of the game, scoring 11 of the game's first 13 points. Senior forward Martina Matejcikova scored six of her seven points during that stretch with Maticka draining a 3-pointer.

After the Seahawks cut the lead to 11-6, Horton scored the game's next four points on a left-handed power move in the lane and a strong move down low, pushing the lead to 15-6 with 9:56 left in the first half.

Horton continued her first half prowess with a layup that pushed the lead to 25-12 with five minutes left.  Horton then capped her great first half with a layup that gave the Highlanders a 33-21 lead at the break. Horton had 12 points and five rebounds at the break.

The Highlanders then pushed the lead to 43-23 with 13:45 remaining on a layup from Maticka.

Then the Seahawks began to mount their comeback, led by Nwajei and Peck.  Wagner went on a 21-6 run to cut the lead to 47-41 with 6:29 left on a 26-foot 3-point shot from Peck.

The Seahawks actually cut the lead to 54-51 with 2:50 left on two free throws from Nwajei, but that was the closest the visitors would get to the Highlanders.

Senior guard Alyssa Albanese hit two clutch free throws with 1:39 left to push the lead to 56-51 and Horton made three free throws and Dudley added one in the final minutes to ice the victory.

The Highlanders return to action Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. when they play host to Binghamton at the Fleisher Athletic Center.

Release courtesy James Hague