Mahwah, NJ: The Montclair State University women's basketball team posted a NJAC road win over Ramapo College tonight at the Bradley Center, 60-53. The Red Hawks move to 11-12 overall, 8-8 in the NJAC while the Roadrunners now stand at 15-8 overall and 9-7 in the conference.
MSU got on the board first in the game with a jumper from Alexis Strollo before a three-pointer from
Olivia Johnstone started a 13-1 run.
Shannon Burns converted on an and-one play before Johnstone hit her second three-pointer during the run for a six point lead. Johnstone added a jumper before
Salma Eddahiri put back a jumper for a ten point lead, 13-3. MSU would cut the lead to five with just over 2:30 on the clock with a three-pointer from Megan Duffy before
Jada Thompson added two off a jumper for Ramapo. Strollo connected on a layup at the end of the quarter while Ramapo took a five point lead into the second, 17-12. MSU started the second on a 10-0 run as they took a 22-17 lead with 6:15 on the clock. Ramapo then went on a 10-0 run of their own as Ventricelli hit back-to-back jumpers before Burns and Thompson also added two points each. Ventricelli capped off the run with a basket with 4:30 on the clock and a five point lead, 27-22. Nickie Carter sank a pair of free throws to wrap up the scoring for either team in the second quarter as Ramapo led by three at halftime, 27-24.
MSU outscored Ramapo in the third quarter 20-13. With the game tied at 32 with five minutes left in the third,
Salma Eddahiri sank a big three-pointer for the Roadrunners off a dish from Venticelli. Carter added two from the free throw line for MSU before Eddahiri scored a layup for Ramapo for a three point lead. Madelyn McCrea brought the Red Hawks within one with a pair of free throws with 2:47 on the clock before Carter converted on an and-one play to take a two point MSU lead, 39-37. Eddahiri once again came up big for Ramapo with a jumper to tie the game at 39 with under two minutes left in the third. Carter made a layup which started a mini 5-1 run to end the third as MSU took a four point lead into the final quarter of play, 44-40. Ramapo started the fourth on an 8-5 run to tie the game at 46 off a fastbreak layup from Ventricelli. Megan Duffy would come down and sink a three-pointer for MSU which gave them back the lead for good. The Red Hawks would stretch their lead out to 11 on a three-pointer from Carter on an 11-3 run for a 60-49 lead with 2:30 left in the game. Ramapo would score the final four points of the game to cut the lead to seven as MSU held onto the 60-53 road win.
Carter led all scorers in the game with 25 points to lead MSU as she finished 7-7 from the free throw line. Duffy added three three-pointers and scored 13 and grabbed a team high ten rebounds. The Red Hawks shot 32% (19-58) from the field, 33% (7-21) from the three-point line and 78% (15-19) from the free throw line.
Ventricelli led the Roadrunners with 14 points while recording a team high seven assists and four steals. Johnstone added 13 points including three three-pointers while Eddahiri contributed with nine points, four rebounds and one blocked shot. Thompson collected eight points, six rebounds and five assists along with two steals. Burns pulled down a team high eight rebounds while adding three blocked shots and five points. Ramapo shot 37% (22-59) from the floor, 28% (4-14) from the three-point line and 71% (5-7) from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday, February 11th when they travel to NJAC rival the College of New Jersey for a 1pm game.
