Montclair, NJ – Junior Katie Sire scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Montclair State, ranked No. 16 by D3Hoops.com, pulled out to 17-point halftime lead on its way to a 56-43 win over Haverford College in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday evening.

Sage Bennett and junior Kate Tobie each had nine points for the Red Hawks (1-0), who led by nine after the first quarter and won their season-opening game for the sixth consecutive season.

Macy Goldbach had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals for the Fords (0-1).

MSU scored the first four points of the game as Sire and Bennett scored on back-to-back layups. After Haverford's Samantha Wetzel answered, Sire hit a layup and drained a three-pointer making the scored 9-2 with 4:21 left. A three-pointer by Zoe Curtis extended the lead to 12-4 and layup from freshman Alex McKinnon put MSU up 16-7 after one period.

The Red Hawks opened the second with the first eight points, including five by Tobie whose three-pointer upped the margin to 24-7. Tobie hit again from behind the arc and a layup by Taylor Harmon put Montclair State in front, 29-9 with 4:22 to play before halftime.

Sire scored 11 of her points in the first half and MSU forced 14 turnovers which led to 15 points.

Montclair maintained its large margin throughout the second half as the Ford pulled within 13 on three occasions, the last coming on a three-point play by Goldbach in the closing 90 seconds.

Yazmine Lacey and Rachael Krauss had four points and four rebounds apiece for MSU. Sierra Berkel, Wetzel and Katie Cook each had eight points for Haveford.

Montclair State returns to action this weekend in the Williams Tip-Off in Massachusetts. The Red Hawks play host Williams on Saturday at 6:00 pm and then face Hamilton College on Sunday, November 20 at 1:00 pm.