Montclair, NJ (2/21/04) - Freshman center STEPHANIE MACHIN (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) scored 20 points and added a game-high 18 rebounds as Montclair State University broke open a four-point game en route to a 71-64 victory over New Jersey City University today in NCAA Division III women's basketball action at Panzer Gymnasium.

MSU also won at NJCU, 65-59, back on Wednesday, Feb. 4. Montclair finished the regular season at 20-5 and went 9-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, finishing third in the NJAC's Blue Division. NJCU finished the 2003-04 campaign at 5-19 overall and 0-13 in the conference. The Red Hawks, who will begin the 2004 NJAC Tournament on Monday night, have won 20 regular-season games for the first time since the 1989-90 season, and 20 games overall for the first time since 1998-99.

Junior guard AMY SNYDER (Cranford, NJ/Union Catholic) tallied 14 points this afternoon for the Red Hawks, who won their second straight contest, while sophomore center AMANDA MULLANEY (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Ford) contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Megan Kabba (Newark, NJ/Arts) paced the visiting Gothic Knights with a career-high 20 points and also collected 11 rebounds, while NJCU junior guard Erika Cubile(Jersey City, NJ/Academy of St. Aloysius) added 14 points and two steals.

NJCU raced out to a 14-8 less than five minutes into the contest, only to watch as Montclair went on a 27-3 run to take a 35-17 advantage with 4:16 remaining in the half. The Gothic Knights then used a 16-0 run to close within 39-35 at halftime, but MSU then scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to break the game open with a 50-31 advantage. Machin scored 14 of her 20 points in the opening 20 minutes, while collecting 10 of her total rebounds in the second half. She finished with eight caroms in all on the defensive glass.

Montclair, which has gone 10-1 at home this winter, honored the three members of this year's senior class prior to today's game in guards PAM BARONE(Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa Academy), DYETTE DILLARD (Willingboro, NJ/Willingboro) and RANDI HARRIS (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt). Barone finished today with seven points and three assists, while third-year Red Hawk player Dillard notched seven rebounds, six points and a team-high five assists, and Harris registered three assists and two rebounds.

Montclair State now visits Kean University (18-7, 8-5 NJAC) on Monday, Feb. 23, at 7:00 p.m. in Union, NJ in the first round of the NJAC Tournament. Kean defeated visiting Ramapo today, 87-69, to clinch second place in the NJAC Gold Division thanks to Richard Stockton's loss at Rowan. The Red Hawks edged the host Cougars, 84-81, back on Dec. 4, 2003, at Kean's D'Angola Gymnasium in the two schools' last meeting. Monday's MSU-Kean winner will then play at The College of New Jersey on Wednesday, Feb. 25, in Ewing, NJ.