Grand Rapids, MI –The Montclair State basketball team's quest for a national championship came up short as the Red Hawks fell to George Fox 70-58 in the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Friday evening.
Senior guard
JANITZA AQUINO (Kearny, NJ Kearny) scored 15 points while
MELISSA TOBIE (Elizabeth, NJ / Roselle Catholic) added 13 along with six rebounds and five assists as the Red Hawks (30-2) had their 16-game winning streak snapped, losing for the first time since January 14.
Montclair State will face Tufts University in the Third-Place Game on Saturday, March 21 at 4:00 pm.
MSU fell into a quick 9-0 hold in the game's first three minutes but began the climb out of it as Aquino buried a three-pointer with 16:49 left for MSU's first points. It would be the start of a nine-point run by the Red Hawks with Tobie's layup at the 13:58 mark knotting the game at 9-9.
The Bruins (32-0) grabbed the lead back and things would get tough for MSU as Tobie collected her second foul with 12:02 to play putting her on the bench for the remainder of the half. Still Montclair hung tough and fought back from a six-point deficit.
RACHAEL KRAUSS connected on a pair of three-pointers, including one with 2:21 left giving the Red Hawks their first lead at 22-21. George Fox would get the final basket of the half taking a 23-22 lead into the locker room.
Montclair State would take the lead early in the second half as
KATIE SIRE (Hazlet, NJ / Raritan) finished off a break and Tobie, back on the floor, drove in for a layup with 18:24 left giving MSU a 26-23 advantage. Aquino would hit from behind the arc and
KATE TOBIE (Elizabeth, NJ / Roselle Catholic) rattled in a shot clock-buzzer beater for a 31-27 lead with 16:18 to go.
But the Red Hawks would go cold scoring just six points over the next nine minutes, including a scoreless stretch of five while making just one field goal. Meanwhile the Bruins capitalized on that scoring 22 of the game's next 28 points building a 49-37 lead with 6:04 left on a jumper by Nicole Blizzard.
Montclair would hang tough getting back to six points on Aquino's three-pointer cutting the lead to 55-49 with 4:23 remaining. But George Fox countered that with the next five points building a 60-49 cushion with three minutes left.
SAGE BENNETT (Sicklerville, NJ / Winslow) had nine points and eight rebounds for the Red Hawks, who got six points and eight rebounds from Sire. The Red Hawks shot 38 percent from the field 20-of-53 but were outrebounded by the Bruins 47-36, including 14-5 on the offensive glass.
