Montclair, NJ (3/1/06) – Junior forward STEPHANIE MACHIN scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 19 minutes as second-seeded Montclair State knocked off No. 7 seed College of Staten Island, 57-45, in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Women's Basketball Tournament at Panzer Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

FERIN CATLETT had eight points and five rebounds as the Red Hawks (18-9) now advance to the semifinals on Friday, March 3. MSU will host No. 3 seed Farmingdale State at Panzer Gymnasium at 7:00 pm. Earlier this season, Farmingdale defeated the Red Hawks, 80-75 on Long Island back on December 12.

Senior guard Kim Thompson had a game-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds for the Dolphins, who finished the season at 18-10. CSI was making its sixth appearance in the ECAC Metro Tournament. Staten Island also fell to 0-4 against Montclair State with three of the losses coming at Panzer Gymnasium.

The Red Hawks, making their 12th appearance in the ECAC Tournament, never trailed in the contest and were tied twice. After the Dolphins knotted the game at 4-4, MSU went on a 7-0 run. Machin and MICHELLE MADEJ each had baskets before AMANDA MULLANEY sank one free throw. Machin capped the short run with a layup as Montclair took an 11-4 advantage. Nicole Estrada got Staten Island back to 13-11 with a layup at 11:02, however, Catlett scored once and JESSICA GARRABRANT put in four straight points to restore the lead to 19-12 with 8:58 remaining before half.  

Jessica Leardi's three-pointer with 3:09 to play made the score, 27-21, however, the Red Hawks closed out the half with a 12-0 run to take a 39-21 lead into the break. Machin scored the first six points and JESSICA HORAN added five, including a three-pointer from the left side before the halftime buzzer.

Montclair State would take its largest lead at 54-31 as MARISSA FREEMAN sank a foul shot with 6:49 to play. Staten Island would whittle the lead back to 11 points over the final five minutes. Thompson scored four straight points to make the score 56-45 with 1:36 left.

Garrabrant finished with seven points and nine rebounds for MSU, which held a huge advantage in the rebounding department, 57-41, including 20 offensive boards. The Red Hawks shot just 33 percent (20-of-60) from the field and were 16-of-28 from the free-throw line. AMY BONK had six rebounds.

Estrada had seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals for the Dolphins, who also had their shooting problems going 18-of-66 (27.3 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-21 from behind the arc. Leardi had six points and seven boards while Kellie Carnevale added five points and seven rebounds.