On Thursday, Nov. 21, the Montclair State University Red Hawks women’s basketball team faced Valley Forge in the Panzer Athletic Center in Montclair, New Jersey in their last game before they begin conference play.
Behind 47 points from their bench, the Montclair State University Red Hawks women’s basketball team defeated Valley Forge Thursday night 80-50 in the Panzer Athletic Center in Montclair New Jersey.
The home side jumped out to a 9-0 lead on five points from junior Alexis Strollo and four points from freshman Alyssa Craigwell. The visitors only managed to break Montclair State’s momentum by drawing a foul and hitting two free throws. Montclair State went back to work after that with senior Olivia Vero scoring two lay ups on back-to-back possessions.
“I think we did a pretty good job in the first half playing defense, getting out running in transition,” MSU head coach Karin Harvey said. “We’d rather not play against zone, so we tried to find some ways to score in transition and I think we adjusted a little bit to their zone and got some high-low looks.”
Vero and Strollo subbed out at 5:40 left to play and in came Amanda Castro and Lyndsey Ross. The Red Hawk offense didn’t miss a beat, putting seven more points on the scoreboard and closing the first quarter up 20-6.
Strollo picked up where she left off hitting a lay-up to begin the second quarter. Sophomore Samantha Phillip sank a jump shot to put Montclair State up 24-6 but then Valley Forge came back with two lay ups from Olivia Rochkind to make it 24-10. Then the dagger came off the fingertips of Strollo as hit a three-pointer at 6:42 to go in the first half to make it 27-10.
At 3:36 to play, junior Shannon Hughes hit back-to-back lay ups to stretch Montclair State’s lead to 33-12. The Red Hawks were moving the ball around like clockwork on offense when Castro sank a 3 pointer from the corner to give Montclair State a 20-point lead, 36-16 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. Castro added four more points and Montclair State closed the first half on a 9-2 run which gave them a 42-18 edge heading into the locker room.
Montclair State’s Olivia Vero came out of the locker room leading the way for Montclair State and she led the way on the scoresheet. The senior from Staten Island would make four consecutive field goals to begin the third quarter and get her team started on the right foot.
I just think they’re playing really well. I’m so impressed with how Lex [Strollo] is playing and then we just talked about Amanda [Castro] is coming on. Last game she played well and today she played even better. Liv [Vero] is a monster. She’s a senior, she’s worked her butt off. She just has so much confidence and poise. Today, I actually didn’t think she played as well as she’s capable of. She missed some lay ups that she doesn’t normally miss but yeah, I’m proud of how they’re playing for sure.” – Montclair State Head Coach Karin Harvey
Despite Montclair State’s offensive prowess to start the second half, Valley Forge started making more shots themselves and scored 15 points largely on the backs of three players: Rochkind, Lucy Mauerman and Dominique Barnes by the end of the third quarter. However, Montclair State added 21 points in the third quarter and Vero had 10 of them, as the visitors didn’t have an answer for Montclair State’s center.
In the fourth quarter, the visitors matched the hosts shot-for-shot but it was too little too late as Montclair State came away with the victory by a 30-point margin. To put the icing on the cake, Montclair State freshman Salange Bell, a Montclair native, hit two three pointers which near the end of the game to seal it for the Red Hawks. The Red Hawks won this game by playing superior defense, limiting Valley Forge to just 1-of-7 from three-point range and by outrebounding the visitors. Montclair State ended the night with a 49-39 edge in rebounds and a 29-11 edge on the offensive glass.
For Valley Forge, Dominique Barnes led her team with a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds). For Montclair State, four players scored in double figures, and they were Olivia Vero who had 14 points, Amanda Castro who had 12, Strollo who had 11 and Shannon Hughes who had 10.
After the game, Alexis Strollo offered her thoughts on what fueled her team’s dominant win over Valley Forge.
“It’s all about playing together and getting better, every time we step on the floor we know that we have a commitment to our teammates to make each other better, to move the ball and that’s what’s getting us so far. We’re really playing good team basketball this year, sharing the ball with each other and that’s leading to good transition points.
Also, during the postgame press conference, Montclair State Head Coach Karin Harvey discussed what it means to start the season 4-0 after missing the NJAC playoffs last year.
“I think it’s great. We’ve been down the last few years and to be back up a bit, we’re excited. We’ve got a little bit of everything you know; I think we’ve got the point-guard position, we’ve got the two post players, we’ve got the defense. We need our shooting to be a little bit better, but I really like what we have—I think we have all the pieces. If we continue to move forward, I’m excited about the season.”
Coach Harvey was also asked about whether being picked to finish seventh in the NJAC preseason poll was motivating her team.
“I think that the dark horse is motivating to us. You know we have been down the last couple of years and my team took that a little personally to be voted seventh in the preseason, you know but we haven’t won a conference game yet because we haven’t played one but it’s good motivation for us I’ll say that.”
Looking ahead to the Red Hawks next game, they open up New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play with a game against Rowan University.
Strollo discussed how her team is feeling heading into their first NJAC game of the season.
We’re ready, we’re working hard, we’re getting better. All of these things gave us all the tools to put it all together in a really competitive game on Tuesday and we’re ready to play together and play hard.
