Freshman Janelle Biamonte (Secaucus, NJ/Marist) added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Red Hawks, who upped their record to 12-9 on the season as they defeated the Rangers for the second time in only the third meeting between the teams. The game also matched MSU head coach Beth O’Boyle against first-year Drew coach Karin Harvey. Harvey spent the past two seasons as a Montclair assistant coach before taking over the reigns of the Rangers program in October.
Senior guard Melissa Kraft (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph Hill) had 14 points for Drew, which fell to 10-11 overall while having its two-game winning streak snapped.
The Red Hawks scored the first four points of the game only to see the Rangers answer with the next five as Kraft converted a three-point play for a 5-4 lead with 17:57 to go. Montclair then went on a 10-0 run to take control. Ferin Catlett (Lawnside, NJ/Haddon Heights) put MSU in front for good with a layup and Machin followed with another before for Catlett hit her second in the run for a 10-5 advantage. Jessica Garrabrant (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) put in a basket and Machin capped off the spurt with her third and fourth points as MSU built a 14-5 lead with 15:14 left.
Biamonte would extend the lead to 28-13 midway through the period, but Drew would get the lead back to nine as Maggie Marquis (Annandale, NJ/The Pennington School) hit two free throws to make the score 30-21 with 6:56 before halftime. MSU would close out the half with a 14-4 run Machin scored four of her 14 first-half points giving the home team a 44-25 lead at intermission.
Montclair State shot 51percent (19-of-37) over the first 20 minutes while the Rangers struggled connecting on only 6-of-22 (27 percent) attempts from the field.
Catlett finished with 10 points and five rebounds as she and Machin, the NJAC Player of the Week, both played their final regular-season contest at Panzer Gymnasium. Sophomore Meghan Kelley (Newtown, CT/Newtown) had 10 points and six rebounds while freshman guard Jackie Berry (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. Montclair held a huge advantage on the boards, 56-31, including 25 offensive caroms.
Allison Hartnett (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Dobbs Ferry) had seven points and three rebounds from Drew, which got six points apiece from Laura Methvin (Newark, DE/Charter School) and JaQuelia Conley (Columbia, MD/Montrose Christian).
Montclair State is now off until Saturday, February 10 when it travels to Jersey City for an NJAC matchup with the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University at 6:00 pm. MSU is currently 7-3 in the NJAC’s North Division. Drew is at Delaware Valley College on Wednesday for a 7:00 pm tipoff.