Senior guard Maria Rojas (Naples, FL/LaSalle Academy) added 13 points and four steals as the Cardinals posted their second straight victory and moved to 7-4 on the season while beating MSU for the third time in as many meetings between the schools.
Freshman Catherine Cristino (Farmingdale, NJ/Colts Neck) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Hawks, who fell to 5-6 as they played their first game in 21 days. Montclair had been out of action since a 78-58 win over Farmingdale State on December 12.
The Cardinals led from start to finish and built a seven-point advantage nine minutes into the game as DeBorger connected on consecutive three-pointers to give Catholic a 14-7 lead. A layup by Montclair’s Ferin Catlett (Lawnside, NJ/Haddon Heights) brought MSU within 18-13, but Kelly Burke (Glendora, NJ/Bishop Eustace) hit a three-pointer and later added a free throw as Catholic led 22-13 with 3:43 to play in the opening period. DeBorger add another three pointer to finish with nine first-half points as the Cardinals took a 25-18 lead at intermission.
In the second half, Catholic scored 12 of the half’s first 17 points to push the lead to 37-23 with 13:59 remaining. Shannon Mertz (Silver Spring, MD/Georgetown Visitation) had four points in the spurt while Rojas and DeBorger each connected from behind the arc.
Mertz added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists while Linderoth, who was 7-of-10 from the field, also collected four helpers. The Cardinals also outrebounded Montclair State 43-38.
Sophomore Amy Bonk (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens) had 12 points for Montclair State while junior Jessica Garrabrant (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) pulled down nine rebounds.
The Red Hawks return to action on Friday, January 5 as they face 10th-ranked Messiah College in the opening round of the Marymount Invitational in Arlington, VA at Noon. Catholic returns home for a Thursday, January 4 matchup with Christopher Newport at 6:00 pm.