NEWARK, N.J. – The Jacksonville University women's basketball team (14-9, 6-4 ASUN) sputtered early on Saturday afternoon but quickly found its footing in round two opposite NJIT (3-19, 0-9 ASUN), sprinting to a 66-54, victory.

Skakayla Nevitt (Hodges Mazda Player of the Game) paced the scoring effort with 19 points on 8-14 shooting  to go with three rebounds and a pair of assists. She did most of her damage in the second half, netting 13 of her game-high 19 during the third and fourth quarters to help JU put this one away. Kiara Meeks (13 points) and Mariah Batz (11 points) joined Nevitt in double figures with each providing their own version of heroics. Meeks nearly collected a double-double by pulling down eight boards and Batz almost single-handedly brought the Dolphins back from a first quarter deficit.

Jada Perry scored nine and collected nine rebounds while Destiny Marshall came off the bench to score six and grab four rebounds. By the end of this one, the Jacksonville bench had outscored NJIT, 18-5.

The difference in the game came at the charity stripe. The Dolphins were able to generate contact and draw fouls in waves all afternoon and as a result had the opportunity to go 19-25 from the free throw line while NJIT was 7-7. That literally accounts for the 12-point difference in the final score.

With the Dolphins trailing, 9-2, in the first quarter, Nevitt stepped in and canned a jumper in the lane to stop the run. Later, as the clock dipped below 30 seconds to play in the opening frame, Batz stepped into her first triple of the day to bring JU within three. She then canned her second as time expired to give the Dolphins a 15-12 lead at the first break.

The Jacksonville lead extended out to 10 by halftime and grew to as large as 15 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter. But NJIT didn't quit on this game, JU was going to have to put them away. By the 3:20 mark of the fourth, the Highlanders had cut the Dolphin lead to nine but that was as close as they'd come. Jada Perry knocked down a pair of free throws on the next JU possession and the lead never fell below double-digits again.

Jacksonville will return home to square up with Liberty on Monday night inside Swisher Gymnasium. That game is set to tip at 7 p.m.