Montclair, NJ – Sophomore forward Sage Bennett hit the go-ahead basket with 19 seconds remaining as Montclair State survived and advanced to next week's NCAA Division III Sectional Tournament with a 53-48 victory over Stevenson University at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday evening.
Senior Melissa Tobie finished with another double-double, her 17th of the year, scoring 18 points along with 10 rebounds in addition seven steals as the Red Hawks are back in the "Sweet 16" for the third consecutive season. MSU (28-1), winners of 14 straight, will face Bowdoin in the Sectional Semifinal on Friday, March 13 at a time and site to be determined. Salisbury University and Amherst College will play in the other semifinal on Friday.
The winners of the Sectional Tournament advance to the Final Four in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 20-21.
Sophomore forward Sara Tarbert collected 19 points, five rebounds and four steals for Stevenson, which ended its campaign at 24-4. The Mustangs, the Commonwealth Conference champions, were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fell for just the second time in their last 23 games.
Bennett, who had nine points and four rebounds, scored the first and the last baskets for Montclair State however the latter proved to be the important one for the Red Hawks, who had led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Stevenson, which trailed by 12 at halftime slowly crept within striking distance throughout the second half and took its first lead since the opening seconds as Tarbert scored on a layup with 4:36 remaining making the score 46-45.
Montclair State regained the lead at the other end when Tobie scored 23 seconds later and it would be almost four minutes later before the scoreboard changed off the 47-46 MSU advantage. After a series of missed field goals and turnovers, Tarbert made a steal with 59 seconds left that turned into a layup giving the Mustangs the lead 48-47 with 43 seconds. Montclair took possession and moved the ball around with Janitza Aquino finding Bennett in the right corner. Bennet lofted up a jumper that swished through the net putting the Red Hawks back in front 49-48.
Following a timeout with 15 seconds, Stevenson set up in the frontcourt with a chance to take the lead however Tobie knocked away Kayla Kelly's attempt with two seconds left. Freshman Katie Tobie got the rebound and was fouled. She hit both attempts extending the lead to three points. Freshman Katie Sire added the final points with two-tenths left as Montclair escaped with the five-point win.
Both teams saw identical starts of their opening round contests as for the second straight day Montclair State jumped out to a big lead while Stevenson found themselves on the wrong side of a double-digit deficit. Leading 8-4 with 13:30 to go in the first half, MSU embarked on a 17-4 run over the next eight minutes taking a 25-8 lead with 5:28 left after Sire put in a layup.
Despite shooting just 7-of-29 from the floor, Stevenson kept itself in the contest and got within 27-15 at halftime when Stephanie Martinez' running three-pointer at the buzzer went through sparking some life for the Mustangs. Martinez scored nine more points in the second to aid the Stevenson comeback.
Aquino finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two steals for Montclair State which got nine points and four rebounds from Kate Tobie. Sire grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and also added four points and three steals.
Martinez finished with 12 points and collected three steals while Ty Bender added had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.