Montclair, NJ: The Montclair State University women's basketball team defeated Ramapo College tonight, 78-59. The Red Hawks improved to 13-8 overall, 9-5 in the NJAC while the Roadrunners now stand at 7-14 overall and 2-12 in the league.
The Red Hawks opened the game on a 7-0 run and never looked back as they built a 12-point lead heading into the second quarter, 27-15. MSU held a double-digit lead into halftime as they extended it to a 20-point game with a three-pointer from Shannon Hughes. The three-pointer at the buzzer capped off the second quarter as the Red Hawks led, 45-20. The Roadrunners outscored MSU in the third quarter 25-13 as they worked to cut the Red Hawk lead to single digits down the stretch. Following a pair of free throws from MSU to open the third, Ramapo would go on a 11-3 run which cut the lead to 50-36 with just over six minutes remaining. Celina Bussanich sank back-to-back three-pointers for the Red Hawks to stretch their lead, 56-38.
Lauren Flatt would answer with back-to-back three-pointers of her own which started a 12-2 run to finish out the third to cut the lead to just eight, 58-50. In the fourth, Ramapo came shrunk the lead to six with 9:10 on the clock as Flatt once again sank a three-pointer. 17-1 run by the Red Hawks would outpace the Roadrunners in the middle of the final quarter as they took a 78-56 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Flatt snapped the MSU run with her fourth three-pointer of the game, and the final points for either team as the Red Hawks earned the NJAC home victory.
Flatt led the way for the Roadrunners with 20 points as she finished with four made three-pointers. Emma Carwright tallied 13 points and a team high three blocks while
Vanessa Kohler added nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Denay Jones led the way with nine rebounds while adding eight points, three assists and two steals. Ramapo shot 39% (21-53) from the field, 38% (5-13) from the three-point line and 70% (12-17) from the free throw line.
For the Red Hawks, Bussanich and Samantha Phillip each tallied 17 points in the game while Hughes added 15 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Alexis Strollo contributed with 13 points, five assists and three steals. MSU connected on 14 three-pointers in the game while they shot 42% (27-64) from the field, 45% (14-31) from the three-point line and 71% (10-14) from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday, Feb. 7th when they travel to Rowan University for a NJAC game scheduled for 1:00 PM.
