Tonight was a marquee matchup if there ever was one.
Two of the three teams locked in a three-way tie for first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) standings, the Montclair State University Red Hawks and William Paterson University Pioneers’ women’s basketball teams clashed inside the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening and the Red Hawks came away with a 68-54 victory.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair as both teams exchanged leads several times. Neither team found success shooting from three-point land; Montclair State would finish the first half shooting 12.5 % and William Paterson, 25.0%. However, both teams were able to find success scoring in the paint.
One of Montclair State’s best scorers inside the paint, freshman, Alyssa Craigwell landed hard after going up for a rebound and had to come out of the game halfway through the second quarter. Craigwell got the Red Hawks started on their first significant unanswered points run of the game with a layup in the paint and then nearly three minutes went by without either team scoring a point.
Montclair State freshman Madison Marcotte broke the silence by driving to the basket on two separate possessions and scoring layups, before senior Olivia Vero added the icing on the cake with a layup in the paint to leave the scoreboard reading 21-13 in favor of the hosts.
Breaking up Montclair State’s run was William Paterson senior Jade Martinez who drove to the basket and scored a layup. On the next possession, Montclair State junior, Shannon Hughes, drilled a three-ball to make it 24-20. The Red Hawks would take a narrow 27-22 lead into halftime.
Montclair State started to take control of the game in the second half. They led by as little as three points after William Paterson senior Brianna Smith scored a layup to start the third quarter, but would stretch their lead to 17 with just over two minutes left thanks to a 10-0 run punctuated by three-pointers from graduate student Sophie Beneventine and junior Isabella Orlando and four points from senior forward Olivia Vero.
William Paterson were behind by their largest deficit of the game (50-33) but would not go away as they responded with a three-ball made by senior Brianna Smith to make it 50-36. On the next Montclair State possession, Palladino stole the ball and Smith was fouled by Montclair State sophomore Amanda Castro. Smith ended up making 1 of 2 free throws, to cut the lead to 13. When senior Brianna Montajes turned the ball over on the next possession for the Red Hawks, Hughes fouled freshman Kaelyn Gowdy, who went to the line and scored one of two free throws. William Paterson had answered Montclair State’s run with a 5-0 run of their own, but had their run broken up by a Hughes tip in in the paint.
Montclair State now had a 52-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter and they would maintain a double-digit lead for most of the fourth quarter thanks to improved shooting from the perimeter. In the first half, the Red Hawks made 1 three-pointer on 8 attempts, while they made 6 on 11 attempts in the second half. Meanwhile, Wiliam Paterson remained deficient from three-point range in the second half just as they had been in the first, shooting 2 for 6. Montclair State also shot significantly better than William Paterson from the field as they had a 44.1% to 35.6% advantage.
Vero led all players in the game with 17 points, while Smith paced William Paterson with 13 points. Beneventine had her first double-double of the season, contributing 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
This game may have ended in a 14 point victory for Montclair State, but it was anything but a cakewalk. The Red Hawks won because they raised their game in the second half and Vero described how they did it.
“Coach was telling us to be more confident with our shots– we know we can shoot the ball. I think that we were just being a little too hesitant, passing the ball a little too much, and once we started taking shots and started hitting them, I think we just felt the momentum as we kept on hitting our shots.”
Montclair State had a big third quarter which saw them outscore the Pioneers 25-16 and Vero described how they were able to do it.
“That was the deal breaker for the game. Lex [Alexis Strollo] came up huge, Bella [Isabella Orlando] came up huge with a lot of threes, we had a lot of momentum and we literally just nailed them in the ground.”
This was Montclair State’s eighth straight victory and 10th straight conference victory. The Red Hawks improved their overall record to 16-3 and their conference record to 10-2, which moved them into a two-way tie for first place in the NJAC women’s basketball standings with The College of New Jersey.
Last season, the Red Hawks finished 9-16 overall and 6-12 against the NJAC. Vero put her finger on what’s been different about this year’s team.
“Last year, the biggest thing was our team chemistry, I think that that’s made all the difference. We’re as close as ever, we’re all best friends, we love each other and would do anything for each other so that was the biggest thing that changed over the last year and that’s transitioned onto the court and made us a better team overall.”
