NEWARK, NJ– Senior forward Martina Matejcikova scored a season-high 19 points off the bench, but it went for naught, as the NJIT women's basketball team suffered a tough 62-47 loss to Hofstra at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center Tuesday night.

The loss snapped a modest two-game winning streak for the Highlanders (5-5), who never really got a chance to get going. The Pride improved to 6-3 with the win.

Besides Matejcikova, the Highlanders also received 10 points each from senior guard Alyssa Albanese and sophomore guard Alana Dudley.  Center Nicole Maticka set a new NJIT Division I career block record (180) with her lone block in the first half.

Hofstra was led by freshman forward Ashunae Durant, who returned to her hometown of Newark to score a game-high 20 points and grabed nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Kelly Loftus added 15 points on five 3-point field goals while shooting 5-of-7 from long range. Junior guard Darius Faulk had 10 assists for the winners.

The Pride scored the game's first seven points, and then raced out to a commanding 15-3 lead on the third of Loftus' 3-point field goal. Durant then hit two straight power moves down low to increase the lead to 19-3 with 11:23 left before intermission.

The Highlanders had a tough time getting in gear offensively, but then sliced the big lead down to 21-12 on a basket, then a free throw from Dudley with 5:07 remaining in the first half.

But the Pride then scored the next seven points, capped by a driving shot from Sydni Epps in the lane, giving the Pride their biggest lead at 28-12 with 2:10 remaining before halftime.

NJIT went more than four minutes without a single point, before Dudley snapped the streak with two free throws with 26 seconds remaining in the half.

Durant was huge early on, scoring 12 points in the opening half.

The Highlanders did manage to slice the huge lead down to 16 on a rare four-point play from Albanese, bringing the Highlanders to within 50-34 with 8:23 left. But the Pride scored the next three points to quell any chance of a comeback.

The Highlanders return to action Thursday night, when they play host to LIU Brooklyn at 7 p.m.

Release courtesy James Hague