Montclair, NJ – Senior Katie Sire matched her career high with 30 points and made it a double-double performance with 11 rebounds as No. 23 Montclair State captured its season opener with a 71-61 win over Farmingdale State at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.
Senior guard Kate Tobie added a career-best 19 points along with seven assists as the Red Hawks (1-0) posted their seventh consecutive season-opening win. MSU is now 4-2 against the Rams as the two squared off for the first time since the 2007 ECAC Metro Championship Game won by Montclair State, 85-70.
Senior forward Essecne Casey had 20 points with Kaelyn Ward added 14 for the Rams (0-1) .
Sire scored 19 points in the first half as Montclair State took a six-point lead after one quarter and made it 16-point advantage at halftime after outscoring Farmindale State 22-12 in the second.
Alexis Antonacci hit one free throw to bring the Rams within 24-18 heading into the second. Montclair burst the game open with a 15-2 run to start the next period. Freshman Taylor Brown and junior Taylor Harmon hit back-to-back three's making the score 30-18. Sire added a three and consecutive baskets by Alex McKinnon and Nicolette Stevens boosted the lead to 37-19 before Sire capped the spurt for a 20-point lead with 6:23 left before halftime.
Tobie's three with 43 ticks to play allowed MSU to head into halftime with a 46-30 lead.
The Rams battled back in the third outscoring MSU 18-12 and whittled the lead to 56-48 as Lis Durchhalter hit from behind the arc with 2:18 left. Domonique Wirsing scored ahead of the quarter buzzer as Montclair took a 58-48 lead into the final period.
Farmingdale State would as close as 65-58 in the fourth after Antonacci finished off a break with 3:47 left. Sire countered with back-to-back buckets restoring the lead to 69-58 with 2:29 remaining.
McKinnon finished with five points and eight rebounds for MSU which dominated on the glass outrebounding the Rams 49-29, including 17 offensive boards. Brown, playing in her first collegiate game finished with a team-best 12 while Harmon, Tobie and Wirsing collected four each.
Antonacci totaled 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for Farmingdale State.
The Red Hawks return to action on Saturday, November 18 in the Cortica Classic in Upstate New York. Montclair will be at Cortland in a 6:00 pm matchup with the Red Dragons. MSU will then head to Ithaca College on Sunday, November 19 for the second half taking on the host Bombers at 3:00 pm.