Montclair, NJ – Freshman guard Nickie Carter posted 22 points, including 12 in the first half as Montclair State blew open the game in the second quarter, stretching its winning streak to six games with an 88-53 win over Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday evening.
Freshman forward Saniya Meyers had 11 points off the bench as the Red Hawks outscored the Scarlet Raptors 26-6 in the second quarter in improving to 11-4 overall, 6-2 in the NJAC. MSU snapped a two-game losing streak to Rutgers-Camden and improved to 45-17 in the all-time series between the teams.
The Raptors led 7-6 early in the first before Montclair registered nine straight points to take the lead for good. Taylor Brown had all the points hitting three times from behind the arc for a 9-15 advantage with 2:55 left. Kayla Newton and Fatimah Williams countered with field goals for Rutgers-Camden as the Raptors got within 15-11 after one.
Montclair dominated the second quarter shooting 10-of-15 from the field including 5-of-7 from behind the arc while holding Rutgers-Camden to 3-of-13. Carter had nine points in the period with senior Alex McKinnon notching all six of her points in the quarter.
Tamara Johnson made it a 17-13 contest with a layup for the Raptors in the first minute before MSU answered with then next seven points as McKinnon capped the spurt with a three for a 24-13 advantage. After a Williams' basket, Trisha Peterson hit from downtown and five points by Carter widened the gap to 32-17 with 3:38 to play before halftime. McKinnon added another triple inside the two-minute mark and one by Annie Walsh with 38 ticks left helped the Red Hawks to a 41-17 lead at the half.
Montclair State hit 9-of-19 from behind the arc in the first half. MSU held the Raptors to only 8-of-29 from the floor through the first 20 minutes of play.
Brown finished with 12 points and six assists for MSU, which saw 13 different players score in the contest as it registered a season-high for points and three-point field goals (15). Junior Kayla Bush totaled nine points along with 12 rebounds while Peterson chipped in with nine along with seven caroms. Brown and Cerys MacLelland recorded six and five assists, respectively as Montclair collected 27 helpers on 33 field goal makes in the contest.
MSU also outrebounded Rutgers-Camden 48-27 had 37 bench points compared to just four by the Scarlet Raptors.
The Red Hawks close out their first go-around of conference play on Saturday, January 18 with a road trip to Galloway, NJ at Stockton University with tipoff set for 3:00 pm.