Gwynedd Valley, PA – Junior guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the first half as No. 4/6 Montclair State opened its season with an 86-75 win over Scranton in the Gwynedd Mercy Tip-Off Tournament on Friday evening.

Senior Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) added 22 points and junior Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) had 16 points for the Red Hawks, who will face host Gwynedd Mercy in the championship game on Saturday, November 16 at 2:00 pm. It will be the second straight year the two schools will meet for the tournament title. Last year Montclair defeated the Griffins 93-74 to claim the tournament championship.

Montclair trailed just once in the contest falling behind 7-5 before exploding for 18 of the game's next 20 points to build a 23-9 lead with 13:38 left in the first half. Aquino began the run with a three-pointer and scored the first eight points, including another three for a 13-7 lead. Henry followed with a layup and Aquino scored again before Jen Kuczynski (Springfield, NJ, Jonathan Dayton) drained a three-pointer to make the score 20-7.  After Scranton broke the run with a basket, Henry hit from behind the arc.

The Lady Royals (0-1) would get the lead back within double digits cutting the deficit to 35-26 however back-to-back baskets by Henry and freshman Rachael Krauss (Farmingdale, NJ, Colts Neck) pushed the lead back to 39-26 with 6:05 to go before half. Aquino connected from the foul line giving MSU its largest lead of the half at 47-29 before the Red Hawks settled for a 49-33 halftime lead.

In the second half, Montclair State would extend its lead to 65-45 on a jumper by Tobie, who had 14 of her 16 in the second half.  From that point the lead would remain in the high double digits until a run by Scranton late in the game pulled the Lady Royals within 77-69 with 3:44 remaining. Henry answered with a basket and Tobie scored on a layup with 2:09 left as Montclair led 81-71.

Kuczynski finished with 12 points for Montclair, which shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field, including 10 three-point field goals. MSU shot 60 percent (18-of-30) in the first half. Tobie added five rebounds and three blocks while Henry grabbed four rebounds. Junior guard Jenny Malone (North Plainfield, NJ, Roselle Catholic) chipped in with four points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in her return to the court after missing all of last season with an injury.

The win over Scranton was Montclair State's second straight as the Red Hawks also defeated the Lady Royals 57-55 at home two years ago. MSU is now 3-6 all-time versus Scranton.