CAMDEN, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2012) – It took half of the game for the talent and explosiveness of the powerful Montclair State University women's basketball team to take center stage here Saturday afternoon, but when it did, the Red Hawks showed why they are one of the top teams in the nation.
Held to their smallest halftime lead of the season at 25-21 by a fine Rutgers-Camden effort, the Red Hawks opened the second half with 18 straight points on the way to a 67-39 victory in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
The Red Hawks, who have received several votes and are on the verge of breaking into both the WBCA and D3hoops.com Top 25 polls, improve their record to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the NJAC. Their closest margin of victory this season was a 19-point, 93-74 triumph over Gwynedd-Mercy College on Nov. 17
Rutgers-Camden falls to 3-4 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
The Red Hawks' big win overshadowed a milestone for Rutgers-Camden guard/forward Brittany Turner (Belleville, NJ/Queen of Peace), who notched her 1,000th career point. Turner, a graduate student with senior eligibility, scored her first 57 points as a freshman at Felician College and has poured in 947 at Rutgers-Camden, including 10 Saturday. She now owns 1,004 collegiate points and reached her career milestone on a jumper with 9:21 remaining in the first half, to cut the Raptors' deficit to 17-12.
At halftime, the Red Hawks held a 25-21 edge behind nine points from sophomore guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ/Kearny).
The Red Hawks didn't take long to break things open in the second half, holding the Scarlet Raptors scoreless for 8:36 while pouring in 18 consecutive points to make it a 43-21 game. Montclair State, with its suffocating full-court press, forced 12 Raptor turnovers in that span and a total of 33 in the game, only slightly more than the 32.0 average of forced turnovers it had averaged in its first four NJAC victories.
Sophomore forward/guard Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ/Roselle Catholic) notched seven points during the Red Hawks' 18-point run, while freshman guard/forward Shalette Brown (Somerset, NJ/Franklin Township) added six.
Tobie finished the game with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Brown had 12 points, nine rebounds and eight steals. Brown also added a blocked shot.
Montclair State also received 11 points from Aquino and eight from junior guard Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL/Bolingbrook).
Montclair State shot 27-for-58 (46.6 percent) from the field and held a 40-33 advantage off the boards, while holding Rutgers-Camden to 14-for-45 (31.1) shooting.
Sophomore guard Lillian Chukwueze (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) paced Rutgers-Camden with a game-high 14 points, while tying Brown for game-high honors with nine rebounds. She also added a team-high three steals.
Turner added 10 points for the Scarlet Raptors, while junior center Tina Croxton (Deptford, NJ/Deptford) hauled down six rebounds.
The Red Hawks host Stevens Institute of Technology Monday at 6 p.m. in a non-conference game. The Scarlet Raptors return to NJAC action Wednesday night when they host Richard Stockton College at 6 p.m.