EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette women's basketball team defeated NJIT 83-60 inside Kirby Sports Center on Tuesday evening. Seniors Kayla Drummond and Makayla Andrews combined for 40 points in the Leopards' second straight victory.

Andrews finished with 24 points (three shy of her career high) on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor, adding five boards and an assist. Drummond ended the night with a double-double, tallying a career-high The 16 points and 13 rebounds (two shy of her career high).

The Leopards jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after Andrews drained a pair of free throws. Andrews shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the line on the evening. The Highlanders responded by going on an 8-0 run to give NJIT its first lead of the game, 10-9.

Lafayette responded by scoring 11 unanswered points. Sophomore guard Kay Donahue (nine points) knocked down a triple with five seconds left to give the Maroon and White a 28-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Drummond got the Leopards rolling 31 seconds into the second quarter with a layup. With 6:06 remaining in the first half, Drummond tacked on two more layups to give Lafayette a 40-17 lead. Junior guard Abby Antognoli ended the quarter by draining a pull up jumper that gave Lafayette a 49-25 lead at intermission.

Lafayette responded by going on a 5-0 run thanks to five quick points from Andrews. The Highlanders began to climb their way back into the game with a seven-point run, cutting the deficit to 18 points with 5:12 to go in the quarter. Lafayette led 63-47 advantage at the end of the third.

Antognoli opened the final 10 minutes with five points, three of them coming from downtown. The Leopards led 77-60 prior to going on a 6-0 run that closed out the contest. Freshman forward Tasha Chudy made her second appearance as a Leopard, going one-for-two at the line with 1:10 to play. When the final horn blew, the Leopards won 83-60, the program's first victory with 80 or more points since.

The Leopards grabbed 13 more boards than the Highlanders (40-27) on the evening. Lafayette shot a season-high 51.7 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from downtown. The Leopards took the lead for good (11-10) with 4:40 to go in the first quarter. Their largest lead of the game (27 points) came with 7:58 left in the third quarter. 

The Highlanders were led in scoring by Lyzi Litwinko who finished with 13 points. Kenna Squier and Alejandra Zuniga joined Litwinko in double-figures posting 10 and 12 points respectively. 

Lafayette is back in action at 2 p.m. on Sunday as it heads to St. Francis (Pa.) for its sixth game of the season.