Montclair, NJ (3/6/04) - Freshman guard Melissa Kraft (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph Hill Academy) came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points while Courtney Cunningham (Garden City, NJ/Our Lady of Mercy) added 16 as fourth-seeded Drew University knocked off top-seeded Montclair State, 82-70, in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Women's Basketball Tournament at Panzer Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Melissa Coover (Columbus, NJ/No. Burlington) added 13 points as the Rangers (15-10) will now advance to the championship game on Sunday against either #2 William Paterson or #3 College of Staten Island. Time and site are yet to be determined. Drew is making its first-ever post-season appearance in the history of the program.

STEPHANIE MACHIN (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) had 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for MSU (21-7), which was seeking a fifth ECAC title.

The Rangers trailed 39-36 at halftime, but exploded out of the gate in the second half scoring eight of the first 10 points to take the lead for good. Lauren Aliano (Omaha NE/Duchesne Academy) began the run with a layup and Jennifer Weldon (Maple Shade, NJ/Maple Shade) scored to cut the lead to 41-40 before Cunningham and Sarah Marquez (Orono, ME/Orono) hit on short baskets to give Drew a 44-41 lead that it would never relinquish. Montclair State would cut back the deficit to one two more times, the last coming as EBONY ALLEN (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) scored on a layup to make the score 50-49 with 14:44. However, the Rangers responded with an 11-2 over the next four minutes to slowly pull away. Coover ignited the spurt with a three-pointer from the corner and scored the first six for Drew as her free throw made the score 56-51. Kraft then added a layup before Coover capped the run with a short basket for a 60-51 lead.

Machin got Montclair State back within 63-57 with 9:04 to play but Drew pulled away with a 10-0 and led by double digits the rest of the way. Kraft had five points in the run and Meg Kiwatkowski (Island Heights, NJ/Monsignor Donovan) contributed three as the Rangers built a 73-57 lead with 6:10 left.

Marquez had nine points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Drew, which shot 60 percent (19-of-32) in the second half and 50 percent for the game (35-of-70).

Allen had 15 points and KRISTEN POTENZONE (Totowa, NJ/DePaul Catholic) had 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Red Hawks, who shot just 35 percent in the second half (10-of-28) and 40 percent (25-of-62) for the game.