Farmingdale , NY (3/3/07) – Senior forward STEPHANIE MACHIN ( New Providence, NJ/ New Providence) posted her third straight double-double of the tournament and was named the Most Valuable Player as No. 5 seed Montclair State captured its fifth ECAC Division III Metro Women's Basketball Championship with an 85-70 victory over No. 2 seed and defending champion Farmingdale State on Saturday evening.

Senior FERIN CATLETT ( Lawnside, NJ/ Haddon Heights) added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Red Hawks, who close out their season at 18-10 winning nine of their final 10 contests. The championship is the first ECAC crown for MSU since 1999. Montclair State was making its 13 th appearance in the ECAC Tournament and seventh trip to the championship game.

MSU also defeated Farmingdale State for the second time this season and gained a measure of revenge against the Rams (21-8), who knocked the Red Hawks out of the 2006 tournament in the semifinals, 58-52. Earlier this season, Montclair defeated Farmingdale, 78-58 at Panzer Gymnasium on December 12.

Freshman guard Kimberly Blakney ( Brooklyn, NY/Benjamin Banneker) finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds for Farmingdale, which was seeking to become the first repeat champion in the tournament since New York University in 2002 and 2003.

Montclair State overcame a tremendous first half from Blakney, who scored 24 points in the first 20 minutes, as it shot a sizzling 65 percent (15-of-23) from the field. Machin had eight points while JESSICA GARRABRANT ( Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) and JANELLE BIAMONTE ( Secaucus, NJ/Marist) each added seven points.

A close game throughout the half, Montclair took the lead with 2:51 to play as AMY BONK (Edison, NJ/Edison) connected on a jumper to make the score 32-31. Freshman JACKIE BERRY (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) extended the lead to three points with a pair of free throws and after a Blakney layup, Bonk scored again with 1:46 left to make the score 36-33. Catlett added a jumper with 45 seconds to go as the Red Hawks took a 38-36 lead into the break.

In the second half, a jumper by Machin gave MSU a 48-41 advantage, but Rams crept within a point twice, the last time coming with 14:48 to go on a basket by Dankery Perez ( New York, NY/ Manhattan Center) for a 52-51 MSU lead. But Machin countered with four consecutive points and a jumper by Garrabrant widened the lead to 59-52 with 11:52 left. Christine Daley's ( Elmont, NY/Elmont) jumper brought Farmingdale back to 59-54, however Montclair made six straight free throws to push the lead to 11 points with 9:25 to play.

Farmingdale got as close at 70-62 with 6:03 left on a Daley basket before the Red Hawks sealed the game with a 12-4 run capped off by Machin's jumper with 1:46 left.

Machin, who averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds in the tournament, was 8-of-12 from the field in the game as Montclair State shot 56 percent (29-of-52) in the game while holding a 48-34 advantage on the board. Machin's performance capped off one of the finest careers in recent MSU history as the 5-10 forward posted her seventh double-double of the season and finished with 1,493 career points – fifth on the Montclair all-time scoring list. Catlett, the Red Hawks' other senior member, finished 10 th all-time in blocked shots with 78.

Garrabrant added 12 points and eight rebounds while Berry contributed 10 points and seven rebounds. MARIANNE MCGOVERN (Fair Lawn, NJ/Paramus Catholic) added nine points and three assists.

Daley had 15 points and eight rebounds for Farmingdale, which shot just 35 percent (26-of-75) from the floor, including 5-of-25 from three-point range.