Sophomore Amy Bonk (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens) added 13 points and five rebounds off the bench as the Red Hawks moved to 10-9 on the season and 6-3 in the conference's North Division.
Luci Custis (Roselle, NJ/Abraham Clark) finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Pioneers, who suffered their first league loss of the season (8-1) while dropping to 18-3 on the year. It was the first loss for William Paterson since a 69-55 loss to then No. 2 ranked Bowdoin College at home in the Red Hawk-Pioneer Classic on November 25.
Deadlocked at 27-27 at halftime, the lead changed hands six times in the first six-plus minutes before Montclair State would gain control. Machin connected on a short jumped to ignite an 11-0 run as the Red Hawks built a 48-38 lead with 9:55 to go. After the first basket, Machin converted a three-point play and Jessica Garrabrant (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) eventually capped off the run with the final four points.
William Paterson would not go away as the Lady Pioneers whittled the lead to 50-46 with 8:28 remaining as Michelle Pellichero ( Milltown , NJ /Bishop Ahr) connected from three-point range. But the Red Hawks would respond with another 11-point run as it restored the lead to 61-46 to 4:26 to play. Bonk sparked the run with a jumper and Jessica Horan (West Haverstraw, NY/North Rockland) followed with five straight points, including a three-pointer to make the score, 57-46. Cynthia Warrington (Villas, NJ/Lower Cape May Regional) and Marianne McGovern ( Fair Lawn , NJ / Fair Lawn ) closed out the spurt with two free throws apiece.
McGovern would add a jumper with 3:30 to play to give the Red Hawks their largest lead of the game at 65-47. William Paterson would only get as close as 10 the rest of the way.
Garrabrant finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while McGovern added nine and four assists. Montclair State outrebounded WPU, 45-43 and held a decisive advantage at the foul line going 26-of-33 compared to the Lady Pioneers’ 8-of-15.
Elisa Brown ( Norwalk , CT / Norwalk ) posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Lori Custis ( Roselle , NJ /Abraham Clark) and Julie Haledjian ( Montville , NJ /Pascack Hills) each added eight points.
Both teams return to action on Saturday, February 3 with NJAC games in South Jersey . The Red Hawks will travel to Glassboro to face Rowan at 1:00 pm while the Pioneers will head to Pomona , NJ to face Richard Stockton at 4:00 pm .