Montclair, NJ – Junior forward Domonique Wirsing scored a career high 26 points while freshman Nikki Stevens added 13 as No. 22 Montclair State rebounded from its first loss in 17 games with a 92-12 win over New Jersey City University at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.
Senior Katie Sire had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Red Hawks, who set a single-game record for fewest points allowed in a game. MSU improved to 20-2 on the season, notching its sixth consecutive 20-win campaign and the 17th in program history.
MSU also inched closer toward claiming the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament upping its league record to 15-1, two games ahead of The College of New Jersey (13-3), Montclair's next opponent on Saturday. The Red Hawks and Lions square off for the second time in Ewing at 1:00 pm.
Montclair State broke the single-game mark of 16 points allowed set against St. Peter's University in 1972 and equaled on November 19, 1989 against John Jay in the Bloodhound Classic. The Red Hawks allowed six points in each half as the Gothic Knights (0-19, 0-16 NJAC) shot just 4-of-60 for the game, including 1-for-22 from three-point range.
Janae Mayfield scored the first point of the game on a free throw with Sire and Alex McKinnon adding field goals for a 5-0 lead two minutes in. Jynaisha Martin hit two free throws for NJCU before Montclair reeled off the next 12 points. Taylor Harmon and Taylor Brown had back-to-back field goals and a layup by Wirsing made the score 13-2. Kim Calloway connected twice from the line before Wirsing capped the run for a 17-2 advantage with 3:35 left.
NJCU's Pamela Ramnarain stopped the spurt with a jumper however Sire scored four points, including a layup with 31 seconds left as the Red Hawks led 25-4 after one period.
Calloway finished with nine points off the bench for MSU, which saw all nine players score in the contest. Brown and Harmon each had seven with Brown pulling down 11 rebounds and Harmon, who had six assists, grabbing eight. The Red Hawks held a huge 56-32 advantage on the boards.
Sire, who recorded six steals in the game, became the sixth player in program history to surpass the 1,600 point mark for her career. She now has 1,609 in her three-plus season with MSU.