LEWISBURG, PA—Senior Claire DeBoer and Kaitlyn Slagus combined for 44 points and 20 rebounds, leading Bucknell to a 67-36 victory over visiting NJIT Thursday evening at Sojka Pavilion.

Bucknell, ranked 15^th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major rankings and selected preseason favorite in the Patriot League, improved to 3-0 on the young season, for the first time since 2008-09.

DoBoer, a 6-foot-1 forward for the Bison, was voted Preseason Player of the Year in the Patriot League and finished the contest 7-for-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. 

Slagus, the 2016 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, notched her third career double-double, shooting an impressive 8-for-9 from the field while sharing game-high honors with DeBoer and senior forward Sune Swart on the boards with 10, as the Bison held a 54-to-27 advantage on the glass.

NJIT (2-1) was paced by senior guard Alana Dudley's 10 points.  Freshman Danielle Tunstall and redshirt-freshman Jillian Libby added six points apiece for the Highlanders.  Libby was the high-rebounder for NJIT, pulling down seven boards, one shy her personal-best eight rebounds against Wagner in the 2016 season opener.

Bucknell took a 31-17 advantage in the opening half but the Highlanders fought back, cutting the deficit to 10 on three occasions in the third period. 

NJIT's Tunstall scored the first four points of the third period, slimming the Bison lead to 10, 31-21, with 9:15 on the clock and after a jumper by Libby at the 5:18 mark, the Bison were up 39-29.  Bucknell closed out the third quarter on a 10-2 run for a 50-31 lead.

The Bison outscored the Highlanders 17-5 in the final quarter and went on to win 67-36.

NJIT will return to action on Monday at 7pm, hosting Fairleigh Dickinson in the Fleisher Athletic Center.  The game will be streamed on ESPN3.