Montclair, NJ – Senior guard Katie Sire scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half as Montclair State turned an 11-point first-half deficit into a 74-61 win over Albright College in the Gelston/Paskert Holiday Tournament championship game at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.
Senior guard Kate Tobie added 20 points, four rebounds and three assists as the Red Hawks won their ninth straight and are now 11-1 on the season. Sire, who added 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals, was named the Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Tobie.
Devan Horka recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds for Albright, which fell to 7-5 on the season. Alysha Lofton scored a team-best 18 points along with five rebounds as the duo were selected to the All-Tournament Team for the Lions.
After a 17-17 first quarter, Albright slowly built an 11-point lead in the second. Lofton put the Lions in front with a layup to open the quarter and Nina Mazzarelli's three-pointer made the score 26-19. Zaria Mohamed scored consecutive field goals to get the lead to double digits and Lofton's three-pointer with 2:07 left made the score 38-27. Sire scored the final four points of the second bringing the Red Hawks within 40-33 at the break.
Four straight points by Sire early in the third gave MSU the lead at 46-44. The teams were knotted at 50-50 before MSU closed out the period with the final five points. Harmon hit one from the line and Tobie added two more from the stripe with 1:04 left. Harmon sank two foul shots with 32 seconds remaining as Montclair led 55-50 heading into the fourth.
Leading by five with 6:18 remaining, Tobie delivered a big blow with a three from the right wing extending the lead to 61-53. Sire and Alex McKinnon followed with field goals widening the advantage to 12 points. MiKayla Lea's three-pointer with 1:12 left got Albright within 69-61 however the Red Hawks finished off the game making 5-of-6 at the line with Sire and Tobie hitting two and three, respectively.
McKinnon added eight points for the Red Hawks while Domonique Wirsing chipped in with seven points and four rebounds.
Montclair State is now off until Saturday, January 6 when it returns to the Panzer Athletic Center for its first NJAC contest of the 2018 calendar year. MSU, 5-0 in league play, hosts Stockton University at 3:00 pm.