The Mike Scala Memorial Classic took place on Monday, Dec. 30 on the campus of Montclair State University between the Montclair State Red Hawks women’s basketball team and Shenandoah University Hornets. During halftime, there was a ceremony at the mid-court line where Montclair State’s head coach Karin Harvey stood with the family of Montclair State’s former Director of Sports Publicity and Montclair State Athletics Hall-of-Famer, Mike Scala and told the crowd a little of who he was.
Red Hawks Stare Down Toughest Test Yet
The basketball game got underway with the Red Hawks’ freshman forward Alyssa Craigwell getting the Red Hawks on the scoreboard first by putting in a layup. Shenandoah answered with a two-point field goal from the elbow from graduate student guard Maddie Kimble. The first foul of the game came against Montclair State’s graduate student guard Sophie Beneventine for blocking. Shenandoah’s senior guard Teresa Greene would hit 1-of-2 free throws.
With the score at 12-7 in favor of the visitors, Alyssa Craigwell received a pass from Beneventine and sunk a three-pointer to cut the deficit. With the score 14-11 in favor of Shenandoah, the Red Hawks worked the ball around the perimeter before passing to Craigwell in the post. Craigwell scored a short jumper ‘and-one’ to tie the game at 14. At the one-minute mark, Montclair State trailed 22-14, thanks to Greene scoring six points during this stretch.
With 20 seconds to go, Montclair State’s senior center Olivia Vero missed a lay up but junior guard Shannon Hughes was able to come up with the offensive rebound. Hughes passed out to senior guard Brianna Montajes who sank a three to cut the deficit to 22-18. However, Shenandoah would close out their strong opening quarter with a buzzer beater jumper from freshman guard Skai Bayless which put Shenandoah out in front 24-18.
Shenandoah got off to another fast start to start the second quarter, scoring five unanswered points. But Montclair State would respond going on a 5-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 29-25. At 6:33, Alexis Strollo subbed on for Isabelle Orlando. At 5:04, Montclair State trailed 33-27 and subbed off Vero for Lyndsey Ross. Ross made her first shot of the game, a three pointer to cut the deficit to three. The game became chippy inside the paint as both teams were desperately fighting for each rebound. Shenandoah then went on a 9-0 run, which stretched their lead to 40-30. The visitors’ run was only broken by Hughes’s jumper with one minute remaining. The visitors tacked on another four points before the first half came to a close and Shenandoah took a 44-32 lead into the halftime break.
Second Half Sparks
Vero got the Red Hawks started in the second half, drawing a foul in the paint. She would go to the free-throw line and hit 1-of-2 shots to make it 44-33. Craigwell then completed the three-point play on a lay up and-one. Then, for four minutes from 9:00 to 5:00, the visiting Hornets went on an 8-2 run, which stretched their lead to its largest 17-point margin at 52-35.
What Montclair State lacked in shooting from field goal range they made up for by drawing fouls in the next few minutes. First, Craigwell drew a foul and hit one free throw. Then, Strollo drew a foul and hit both free throws to cut the deficit to 52-39. A three-pointer from Shenandoah’s Teresa Greene opened the lead back up to 16 points, but Craigwell answered with a lay up. Now it was time for Montclair State to go on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit down to 55-48.
Shenandoah’s response came from Maddie Kimble who danced underneath the hoop and got a reverse lay up to go at 1:49 to stretch their lead to 57-46. Montclair State responded right away when Alexis Strollo scored a lay up and-one to make the score 57-49. Danni Marmo hit a jumper for the visitors to stretch the lead to 59-49, but then two consecutive lay ups and a free throw from Craigwell cut that deficit down to five points as the third quarter ended.
The two teams kept pace with each other in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. At 7:20, Craigwell drove to the hoop and got a lay up to go and-one, whittling the Shenandoah lead down to 64-61. After nabbing a defensive rebound, the Red Hawks flew up the court and with the shot clock running out, Beneventine sank a three-pointer to tie the game at 64 with six minutes left in the game. On the next few possessions, Montclair State nor Shenandoah could score as both defenses clamped down.
Beneventine fouled with 3:33 to go and Shenandoah’s Emily Williams hit both free throws. Then the teams traded lay ups at either end of the court and Shenandoah led by two. Shenandoah gained some breathing room when Marmo hit a lay up to put the visitors up 74-68. The visitors drew a technical foul and hit one of the two free throws to make it 75-68. Because it was a technical foul, Shenandoah received possession again and drew another foul. They made both free throws to make it 77-68. Montclair State’s Olivia Vero received a pass in the paint and scored to make it 77-70. Montclair State continued to foul as the game wound down, while Shenandoah didn’t miss an opportunity to cash in and would hold on to win 81-70.
Postgame Reactions from the Red Hawks
Despite outshooting the Hornets from three-point range 28.6 to 21.4 percent, the Red Hawks went 1-for-7 from three-point range in the fourth quarter, including five missed attempts in the last 38 seconds of the game.
Although they lost, Montclair State showed good spirit fighting back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter to tying the game in the fourth quarter. Senior center Olivia Vero touched on this after the game.
“The most important thing was our effort and our energy. In the first half we felt a little off. In the second half we came out really united and that made all the difference for us.”
On playing in the Mike Scala Memorial Classic, Vero said.
“It means a lot. Mike was a big piece, especially my freshman year, he was always here doing the clock at our games and he was always such a big support to us. So, it was nice to honor him, have his family come out and the whole program I know it meant a lot to him as a whole, so it was nice that we were able to do this for him today.”
One of the brightest spots for the Red Hawks was Alyssa Craigwell who led the team with 25 points, which was also her season high. In the end this game was decided by Shenandoah being superior at rebounding and shooting from field goal range. Shenandoah shot 50 percent from the field compared to Montclair State’s 38.1 percent and outrebounded the Red Hawks 46-28, including 31-17 on the defensive glass.
Vero is a senior and she knows that her team needs to be better.
“The rebounding numbers were really off and I think that we need to do a better job of scoring both on the inside and the outside and dividing our scoring a little bit more.”
What’s Next for Montclair State
The next game for the Montclair State Red Hawks women’s basketball team is at home against Lehman College on Jan. 4, 2025. Since 1970, the two teams have met 10 times and Montclair State holds a 9-1 advantage. In their last matchup in Nov. 2023, the Red Hawks won 77-51.
With today’s loss, Montclair State’s overall record drops to 8-3 but they remain 3-2 against the NJAC. This upcoming game will be the Red Hawks last against an out-of-conference opponent, as they will play the final 13 games of the regular season against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opponents.
