Upper Montclair, NJ (11/23/03) - Freshman center
STEPHANIE MACHIN (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to take Most Valuable Player honors as Montclair State defeated Tufts University, 77-73 to capture the MSU Tip-Off Tournament championship at Panzer Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore forward
EBONY ALLEN (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Machin as the Red Hawks (2-0) held off a late Tufts rally. Julia Verplank (Zeeland, MI/Zeeland), who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had 13 points, five assists and five steals for Tufts, which rallied from 10 points down in the final two minutes. In the Consolation Game, Manhattanville rallied to defeat FDU-Florham in overtime, 84-79.
Montclair State led 73-63 with 1:56 to play, but Verplank sank two foul shots and Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) added two more to cut the lead to 73-67 with 1:18 to play. Verplank then stole the inbounds pass and scored on a layup to make it a four-point game and a field goal by Allison Love (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) with 58 seconds left pulled the Jumbos (1-1) within two. Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ/Mountain Lakes) tied the game at 73-73 with 33 seconds left, but Machin regained the lead for the Red Hawks as her short jumper put MSU in front. Tufts had one last chance, but a jump shot from the right side fell short and was picked up Montclair's
DYETTE DILLARD (Willingboro, NJ/Willingboro), who was then fouled with two seconds remaining. Dillard made both free throws for the final margin.
Montclair State led 33-28 at halftime as Allen scored 12 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, while
SHIKEENA LYNARD (Carney's Point/Penns Grove) added eight off the bench. Lynard had 13 points with Dillard and
PAM BARONE (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa Academy) each scoring 10 as Montclair State placed five players in double figures. Allen grabbed nine rebounds while Dillard had eight. Barone collected seven rebounds and six assists as MSU outrebounded Tufts, 48-38. Erin Buckley (East Sandwich, MA/Sandwich) and Love had 11 points each for Tufts.
In the Consolation Game, Beth Hickey (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Dobbs Ferry) finished with 27 points, five rebounds and five steals as the Valiants (1-1) took third place. Trailing 73-70, Hickey nailed a three-pointer with six seconds left in regulation and then scored seven of the Valiants' 11 points in the overtime. Jessie Chalmers (Middletown, NY/Middletown North) had 23 points for FDU-Florham (0-2), which also got 16 points and 15 rebounds from Ashley Flaherty (Hardystown, NJ/Pope John XXIII).
Hickey and Ashley were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
