GLASSBORO, N.J.- Eastern University Women's Basketball jumped to a 15-0 lead out of the gate and held off a late charge from host Rowan University to earn a 77-67 road win. Meghan Nowak battled foul trouble but finished with a game-high 21 points in only 22 minutes of action. Katie Lincoln scored 20 points and added five assists.

With Nowak and senior guard Lori Wileczek playing just minutes from their home towns, the Eagles put on an offensive show in the opening 10 minutes of play. Nowak hit an open three from the top of the key with 14 minutes to play to give the Eagles a 15-0 lead. 

The host Profs started to score, and the Eastern offense picked up steam from behind the arc. Nowak's three started a run of four straight makes from distance for the Eagles. Nowak converted a lay-in on a good feed from Lincoln to give Eastern a 28-12 lead midway through the half.

The first year forward then picked up her second foul of the contest and the Eagles encountered a rough patch. Rowan went on an 11-2 run and would eventually close the gap to 38-34 at the break. 

Lincoln paced the Eastern attack with 14 points on 4-5 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. Shante Jones had nine at the break.

Wileczek scored the opening basket of the second half, and the Eagles, behind a pair of Kaleigh Boreman triples and another long shot and mid-range jumper from Nowak pushed the edge to 55-42 with twelve minutes to play. Nowak, who picked up her third foul in the opening minutes of the half, picked up her fourth with 9:24 on the clock. 

Even with Novak on the bench, the Eagles briefly pushed their edge to 14 points on jumpers from Lincoln and Jones, but Rowan continued to hit shots and cut the deficit to to 66-60 on an Erin Farrell triple with 2:30 to play.

Wileczek answered with a three with only a few seconds on the shot clock to build the Eastern edge back to nine.

"I felt a lot better about that shot when it went in," Head Coach Nate Davis said after the match, "before she shot it, I wanted another pass, but I think she was feeling confident after seeing her other attempt go halfway down and spin out."

Rowan would close the gap to 5 with 25 seconds left before the Eagles scored five straight to close out the game. 

"We made some mistakes down the stretch," Davis said, "and we gave away a lot of points with mistakes over the course of the game, but we made enough plays to win."

Bekah Roland finished with 11 points and Shante Jones struggled from the field but still scored 14 points to go with five assists, five rebounds, and four steals.

With Nowak and Lincoln both going for 20 or more points, the Eagles now have eight twenty point performances for the year. 

Eastern (6-1)  returns to action at home Saturday when they host Widener University for another non-league test at 1:00.