Montclair, NJ – Junior guard Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) scored all 16 of her points in the second half to lead Montclair State University to a easy 67-49 victory over Washington College in the first round of the Montclair State Holiday Tournament Saturday evening at the Panzer Athletic Center.

Montclair State, ranked 22nd in the nation on the D3Hoops.com Top25 Poll and 24th in the USA Today/Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll, remains unbeaten this season at 12-0. MSU matches the best start in school history, set during the 1970-71 season when the Red Hawks went 12-1. Montclair State's 12-game winning streak is also the second longest in school history, last done during the 1989-90 season.

The Red Hawks advance to the championship game of the tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Widener University, a 67-65 winner over previously unbeaten Vassar.

MSU, which has outscored its opponents by 28.4 points a game this season, opened up the contest strong and led 13-7 at the 10:38 mark.

But Washington College, which dropped to 6-4 on the year with its second straight loss, stormed back, scoring 10 straight points, including six by freshman guard Ashley Espinoza (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin), who scored 11 of her game-high 17 points in the first half, to go ahead 17-13 with 8:11 left in the opening period.

From there it was all Montclair State. The Red Hawks went on a 20-3 scoring outburst, including a string of 17 straight points, to take a commanding 33-20 advantage at halftime. Sophomore guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) scored seven of her 11 points to lead MSU during the scoring spree.

The second half proved no better for Washington, which will now play the loser of the Vassar-Widener game in the third place contest tomorrow at 1 p.m.Montclair State continued its scoring assault as the Red Hawks scored the first nine points of the period, including seven by Henry, to lead 42-20 with 16:59 remaining.

MSU defense was just as dominant. The Red Hawks held Washington without a field goal for a period of 13:18 between the first and second halves before junior guard Kelly Mitchell (Laurel, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross), who scored 10 points in the game, broke through for the Shorewomen with a 3-pointer with 14:45 to play.

Montclair State, which led by as many as 24 points, its biggest lead in the game, at 57-33 with 10:45 left, maintained the 20-plus bulge for most of the second half. MSU also forced Washington into 30 turnovers, the eighth straight game and ninth time this season that the Red Hawks have caused the opposition into 30 or more turnovers. Montclair State, which was averaging 20 steals a game, pilfered 19 in the contest, including five by Henry.