Montclair, NJ – Sophomore guard Taylor Brown scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Montclair State opened its new season with a 71-50 victory over Hunter at the Panzer Athletic Center on Monday evening.
Sophomore Kayla Bush added 12 points off the bench for the Red Hawks (1-0), who never trailed in the contest and defeated the Hawks (0-1) for the 12th time in 13 all-time meetings including the last nine. Montclair and Hunter were squaring off for the first time since 2009.
MSU scored the first four points of the game before Hunter tied the contest at 8-8 with four minutes left in the opening period. Domonique Wirsing put the Red Hawks back in from with a jumper and Bush scored in the paint for a 12-8 advantage. Wirsing added another bucket and three points by Bush to close out the quarter gave Montclair State a 17-11 lead after the first.
Hunter began the second with an 8-2 run knotting the game at 19-19 on a free throw by Selina Lim with five minutes to go before halftime. Brown drained a three regaining the lead for MSU and after a back and forth, the Red Hawks closed out the half with an eight-point burst. Freshmen Rylee Mulligan and Julia Sutton each hit from behind the arc with Mulligan scoring on a layup with two seconds to play sending Montclair into the locker room up 37-27.
A Brown three-pointer with 6:56 in the third pushed the lead to 44-27 and a triple by Trisha Peterson got the lead to 19 points (50-31) with 3:38 remaining. Jade Aponte hit on a jumper in the final minute bringing Hunter within 54-43. Kim Calloway connected once from the line in the last second as the Red Hawks led by 12 heading into the final period.
Brown hit six times from the line in the fourth quarter to help give MSU its largest lead of the game at 68-43 with 3:55 to play.
Wirsing finished with 10 points and six rebounds for MSU, which got 14 rebounds by sophomore Cerys MacLelland. Calloway and Peterson registered eight points apiece. Montclair State outrebounded Hunter, 46-33 and scored 22 points off 24 turnovers by the Hawks.
The Red Hawks return to action on Saturday, November 17 as they take part in the Drew Rose City Classic in Madison, NJ. MSU will face St. Lawrence University in the second game on with the winner advancing to the championship game on Sunday, November 18 at 4:00 pm. Host Drew faces Albertus Magnus in the other opening round contest.