GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. – Montclair State pulled away with a 93-74 win over the Griffins in the championship game of the 2012 GMC Tip-off Tournament Saturday afternoon.

The Red Hawks used a 19-5 run over a six minute span midway in the second as Gwynedd tried to battle back from a deficit in the first half.

Shea Wassel was named to the all-tournament team as she netted a career-high 21 points. The sophomore added nine rebounds. Sophomore Kristen Fuery chipped in 11 points off the bench, draining three of the team's seven three-pointers.

Melissa Tobie was named tournament MVP as she led all scorers with 24 points, 18 of which came in the first stanza. Montclair State would lead by as much as 10 in the first, as Tobie completed a three-point play for a 21-11 lead with 11:57.

Wassel gave GM (1-1) its first lead of the game as she scooped up a three-point miss with less than 15 seconds in the period. Her putback was good, plus a MSU foul to give GM a 44-42 edge. However, Janitza Aquino would draw a foul a hit two free-throws with two ticks to knot it up at 44-44 going in to the break. The Griffins shot 15-of-37 (40.5%) in the first 20 minutes, but were 11-of-17 from the line. Montclair was good on 15-of-33 (45.5%).

In the second, Gwynedd started right off the bat with a three-pointer from junior Jordan Dominic and would lead by four after a driving layup from junior Lauren Smith.

The Red Hawks then scored the next seven points to reclaim a three-point edge. Fuery answered with one of her three-pointers to knot the contest at 55-55 at the 15:17 mark. Later in the stanza, Wassel hooked up on another hoop and harm, with her ensuing free throw giving GM 60-59 edge. From there, MSU's Shalette Brown scored seven points in a 19-5 run to open up a 13-point lead capped off by her fast break layup off a steal.

Dominic and the Griffins tried to answer on the next possession as she hit her second trey on the day to pull within 78-68 with just over six minutes to play, but it would be as close as Gwynedd could get the rest of the way. MSU would outscore GM, 11-0, to put the game out of reach.

The Griffins outrebounded Montclair, 40-36. Sophomore Natasha Matthews again led GM with 10 boards. Taylor Jeffers grabbed a team-high seven for MSU.

Aquino (17 points), Brown (13), Nikki Henry (16), and Jeffers (14) all finished in double figures for Montclair (2-0).

Gwynedd was guilty of 25 turnovers, which led to 38 Red Hawk points.

Salisbury defeated Penn State-Abington, 90-54, earlier in the consolation game.

The team will return to action next Saturday, November 24th when they play at Juniata starting at 2 p.m.

2012 GMC Tip-Off Tournament All-Tournament Team:
Anna Hackett, Salisbury
Jessica Schmidt, Penn State-Abington
Shea Wassel, Gwynedd-Mercy
Taylor Jeffers, Montclair State
MVP: Melissa Tobie, Montclair State