WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (12-9, 8-6 NJAC) owned a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Montclair State (15-6, 11-3 NJAC) rallied for a 64-59 women's basketball victory Feb. 3.

Ahead by a 46-45 count at the start of the final period, MSU's Tiarra Dillard knocked down a three-pointer from the right corner, giving the Red Hawks a 48-46 lead with 9:46 to play. Back-to-back treys extended the margin to seven (54-47, 5:28) before a Brittany Harden (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart) jumper, a 1-for-2 trip to the charity stripe by freshman guard Ashley Castillo (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) and a Jackie Rodriguez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) three-pointer pulled WP to within one at 54-53 with 3:22 on the clock. Senior forward Alex Milne (Howell, N.J./Howell) rebounded a Montclair State miss and Harden turned it into two points with a layup, nudging the Pioneers ahead, 55-54, at the 2:48 mark.

A Katie Sire layup and Rodriguez trey left it a 58-56 game with 2:11 left, but Sire converted a layup 23 seconds later to knot the score at 58-58. A William Paterson turnover and two Sage Bennett free throws (60-58, 1:06) led to a Pioneer miss, Red Hawk turnover and another WP miss, forcing William Paterson to begin fouling, and MSU made all four of its attempts during the game's final 10 seconds to ice the win.

Rodriguez led the Pioneers with 18 points and four steals, while Milne collected 13 tallies and 11 rebounds. Harden added 10 points and four assists.

The Pioneers opened up a 20-12 lead with 1:14 left in the first quarter, but the Red Hawks were able to put together seven straight points to make it a 20-19 margin with 7:52 remaining in the second period. WP was able to later stretch it back to a five-point edge (26-21, 5:05) before MSU ended the quarter with a 5-0 run, making it a 27-26 Red Hawk halftime lead. William Paterson owned a 42-34 advantage with 3:41 on the clock in the third before Montclair State ended the period with an 11-4 burst.

Sire had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Red Hawks, while Dillard put down 12 tallies.

William Paterson will visit Rutgers-Newark Saturday, Feb. 6, at 6:00 p.m.

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