Wayne, NJ – The Montclair State women's basketball team was outscored in the first and fourth quarters, but did its damage in the middle periods as the Red Hawks knocked off local rival William Paterson, 65-56 at the WPU Rec Center on Wednesday evening.
Senior forward Katie Sire posted a double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Hawks posted their fifth straight victory. Montclair (7-1, 4-0 NJAC) outscored the Pioneers (4-3, 2-2 NJAC) 32-15 in middle quarters.
The Red Hawks trailed for all but 35 seconds of the first quarter and were behind 17-15 before the host WPU extended the lead to 20-15 early in the second. MSU clamped down on the Pioneers holding William Paterson scoreless for the next six minutes while going on a 10-point run to take the lead for good.
Sophomore Alex McKinnon ignited the spurt with seven straight points. After making a three-pointers, McKinnon hit two from the line tying the game at 20-20 before putting MSU in front on a layup with 3:59 to go before halftime. Sire later added a layup and a foul shot by Taylor Harmon with 1:07 left gave Montclair State a 25-20 advantage.
MSU led 27-24 at the break and broke the game open with a 20-8 third period. The Red Hawks scored the first 11 points of the quarter. Taylor Harmon began the run with a jumper in the lane with freshman Taylor Brown drilling a three-pointer with 7:04 to play increasing Montclair's lead to 38-24.
Kate Tobie's layup with 2:27 left gave the Red Hawks their largest lead of the quarter at 44-28 before Sire's three-point play closed out the third with MSU holding a 47-32 advantage. A Sire three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter allowed Montclair to take its largest lead at 58-38.
Sire, the NJAC Player of the Week, registered her third double-double of the season and also had four steals. Harmon added 13 points and eight rebounds with McKinnon totaling nine point and six rebounds. Tobie had five pints, five rebounds and seven assists.
Montclair State is back in action on Saturday, December 9 hosting Rowan University at the Panzer Athletic Center with tipoff scheduled for 3:00 pm.