Women's Basketball | 2/20/2016 3:33:00 PM

Montclair, NJ – It is postseason time for the Montclair State women's basketball team and the Red Hawks quest for a fourth straight New Jersey Athletic Conference title begins on Tuesday, February 23 when the MSU hosts local rival William Paterson at the Panzer Athletic Center.

Tip-off for the conference tournament semifinal is set for 7:00 pm. Tickets are $5.00 for general admission and $2.00 for students, children (under 12) and seniors. Due to NJAC regulations, all tickets must be purchased.

Second-seeded Rowan University hosts No. 3 seed Stockton University in the other semifinal with the winners advancing to the championship game on Friday, February 26 at the site of the higher seed.  The winner of the NJAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.

Montclair (19-6) is the top seed in the tournament for the fourth consecutive year after posting a 15-3 record in league play. The Red Hawks finished tied for first place with Rowan and claimed the No. 1 seed on a coin flip as both squads were still deadlocked after the first two criteria in the tie breaker.

The coin-flip victory means that MSU's path toward another conference title will come through the Panzer Athletic Center where the Red Hawks have captured their last six NJAC Tournament contests since 2013. Montclair State, which also captured the championship in 1995, is looking to become the first team to win four straight conference crowns since Rowan from 1996-1999.

This will be Montclair State's 13^th consecutive appearance and 23^rd overall in the NJAC Tournament where the Red Hawks are 16-18. That includes the program's first league title in 1995 in addition to the last three seasons. MSU has been to the semifinals each of the last nine years and will try to advance to the championship game for a seventh time.

To do that the Red Hawks, winners of eight in a row, will have to get past a fifth-seeded William Paterson (15-11) team that knocked off fourth-seeded Kean University, 91-83 in overtime during Saturday's first round. Brittany Harden posted career highs of 29 points and eight assists, chipping in nine rebounds while shooting 10-for-21 (.476) from the field. All but two of her points came after halftime, including 11 during the overtime period. Senior forward Alex Milne knocked down eight of 11 shots (.727) for 21 tallies while collecting 13 boards, sophomore guard Jackie Rodriguez, who forced overtime with a three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, contributed 17 points, and junior guard Nikole Williams had 11 tallies and six caroms.

WPU boasts three players in double figures with Milne leading the way at 12.2 points along with a team-best 9.2 rebounds per game. Harden is second at 11.4 points and six rebounds in addition to 91 assists while Rodriguez is putting up 10.4 points per game and leads the team with 58 three-point field goals.

The Red Hawks counter with sophomore KATIE SIRE, who leads the team at 13.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest. She had registered eight double-double performances this season. RACHAEL KRAUSS brings 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per contests and has connected a team-leading 54 times from behind the arc. Junior SAGE BENNETT chips in with 7.8 points and nearly five rebounds per contest.

Both squads enter Tuesday's semifinal ranked fourth and fifth, respectively in scoring offense in the NJAC (MSU 64.7 ppg / WPU 63.5 ppg) and are in the same positions in field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense. MSU is fourth in field goal shooting (.381) and defense (.364) with the Pioneers fifth in both categories - .379 field goal percentage / .367 field goal percentage defense. Each team has also defended well behind the arc as well. Montclair State is first in the NJAC at .238 with William Paterson right behind at .251.

Montclair State swept the Pioneers during the regular season winning 76-54 at home in November. Sire notched one of her eight double-double performances with 18 points and 10 rebounds with KAYLA CEBALLOS added 17 points and RACHAEL KRAUSS 11. In that game Montclair scored the first 11 points of the contest and later used another 11-point run to build a 32-20 lead at halftime. William Paterson pulled within five points in the third however an 8-0 run boosted the lead back to double digits which MSU maintained the rest of the way.

The second contest would be much closer as MSU scored eight of the final nine points for a 64-59 win in Wayne on February 3. Sire again registered 18 points, including four during the game-ending spurt. Freshman TIARRA DILLARD added 12 points off the bench.

Montclair State has won the last 10 games against its local rival, which includes two NJAC Championship Game wins in 2013 and 2014. The Red Hawks, who lead the all-time series 48-34, are 2-3 against the Pioneers in the NJAC Tournament but have won the last two. MSU posted a 75-54 win in the 2013 title contest and the following year recorded a 67-64 win on JANITZA AQUINO's three-pointer in the closing seconds.