Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State women's basketball team registered its sweetest victory in three years as the Red Hawks raced past Gettysburg College 70-45 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.
Senior Katie Sire scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds leading three players in double figures for MSU (25-3), which is headed to the "Sweet 16" for the first time since 2015. Montclair will face top-ranked and defending national champion Amherst College in the Sectional Semifinals on Friday, March 9. The time and location will be announced on Sunday or Monday.
Senior Taylor Harmon and senior Kate Tobie contributed 14 and 13 points respectively for the Red Hawks, who used a strong opening quarter and carried that momentum all the way to its fifth consecutive win.
Junior Emma Dorshimer led Gettysburg with 21 points as the Bullets closed out a record-breaking season at 26-3. Gettysburg, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013, set a school record for victories.
Gettysburg scored the first basket of the game on a Dorshimer layup 14 seconds in but that would the only lead the Bullets would hold in the game as Montclair scored the next eight points. Harmon and Kim Calloway hit back to back three-pointers for an 8-2 advantage which got to 18-9 at the end of the first quarter after Sire scored on a layup with 36 seconds left.
Tobie scored on a driving layup early in the second for a 22-9 lead before Gettysburg chipped away and got to 29-22 in the final 90 seconds on a free throw by Kendra Meredith. Alex McKinnon answered with a three for the Red Hawks pushing the lead back to 10 points before Meredith Brown beat the halftime buzzer as Montclair State led 32-24 at the break.
MSU pulled away in the third outscoring the Bullets 21-11 while holding the Bullets to 3-of-17 shooting in the period. Tobie and Sire combined on a six-point run to start the quarter with a Sire layup making the score 46-29 with 4:21 to play. Guard Janae Mayfield hit twice from the line off an offensive rebound a minute later and McKinnon's jumper with two minutes let put the Red Hawks up 50-32. Tobie punctuated the quarter with a three-point as Montclair State led 53-35 heading into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Kiera Cesareo hit from behind the arc getting the Bullets within 56-40 midway through but Sire scored the next five points widening the lead back to 61-40 with 4:38 left all but sealing the deal for the Red Hawks.
Sire shot 10-of-12 from the field and added three assists for Montclair, which got five points and seven rebounds from McKinnon and five points and five rebounds from Mayfield. The Red Hawks shot 63 percent from the field (24-of-38), including 73 percent (11-of-15) in the second half. MSU also outrebounded the Bullets 39-27. Tobie chilled in with four assists and three rebounds.