Washington, DC (11/28/05) – Maria Rojas scored 17 points, including the lone three-pointer in the second half, as the CUA Cardinals defeated Montclair State, 58-41 for their fourth win of the season.

CUA (4-0) started slow, but recovered to shoot 48% from the field in the first half. Montclair State had an early 16-12 lead with 11:29 to go in the first half, but Lindsay DiRomualdo and Rojas hit back-to-back threes to give the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish. Rojas was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc for the game.

CUA led 28-22 at halftimeIn the second half, the Red Hawks went on an early 4-0 run to cut the Cardinal lead to 28-26, but Shannon Mertz converted a three-point play to put CUA up by five at 31-26. The Red Hawks got to within two points again with 8:53 to go after MEGHAN KELLEY, who finished with six points, hit a triple for the 'Hawks, but Kristen Linderoth converted a backdoor layup off a perfect pass from Shannon Mertz to put CUA's lead at 42-38. Rojas then nailed a trey with 5:16 remaining to put the Cardinals up 10 points at 49-39 as CUA notched its fourth straight victory under new head coach Margaret Carey.

DiRomualdo added 13 points for the Cardinals while Linderoth and Mertz scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

JESSICA GARRABRANT led the Red Hawks with 10 points. CUA has held opponents to at least 30% shooting from the floor in consecutive games.

Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday as they Red Hawks take the short trip to Wayne, NJ to face backyard and conference rival William Paterson at 6:00 pm.