Women's Basketball | 2/24/2016 8:32:00 PM
Montclair, NJ – Montclair State and Rowan University each recorded a victory during their regular-season meetings. On Friday evening the two will play the "rubber-match" and the stakes could not be any higher.
The Red Hawks (20-6) and Profs (22-4) will square off in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship Game at the Panzer Athletic Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm with the winner not only earning the league title but an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.
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.Both teams come in nearly identical to each other and you could flip a coin to perhaps decide which team has the upper hand heading into the title contest. In fact, that has happened once already as MSU and Rowan finished tied for the regular-season crown with identical 15-3 NJAC ledgers. They would remain tied following the first two tiebreaking criteria (head-to-head matchups & record vs. the next team) and so the seldom used coin flip was used to determine the No. 1 seed and that went to Montclair State setting the stage for Friday's championship game.
The NCAA released its latest regional rankings on Wednesday with Montclair sitting in second followed by Rowan in third.
Montclair State, winners of nine straight, is looking to capture its fourth consecutive NJAC championship, something that has not been accomplished in the league since – you guessed it - Rowan won four in a row from 1996-1999.
The Red Hawks are making their seventh conference title game appearance overall and seeking their fifth overall championship having also claimed the crown in 1995. Rowan is looking for its seventh championship and first since the run of four straight. The Profs also captured NJAC championships in 1992 and 1994.
MSU earned its way into the final after knocking off fifth-seeded and local rival William Paterson, 71-62 in Tuesday's semifinal. Sophomore
KATIE SIRE and junior Rachel Krauss each scored 18 points with
ZOE CURTIS and
KATE TOBIE adding 11 apiece as MSU recovered from an early 11-0 deficit. The win was the 20
th of the year for Montclair State, which reached that plateau for the fourth consecutive season, a first for the program.
Meanwhile second-seeded Rowan pulled away from third-seeded Stockton in the fourth quarter for a 70-59 victory. Summer Crilley poured in a career high 18 points. Forward Kate Matthews collected a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards. Guard Anyssa Sanchez chipped in with 10 points. Kaitlin Schullstrom and Valerie Garofalo tallied nine and eight points respectively. It was the 22
nd win of the year for the Profs, the most since the 1999-2000 campaign and its highest total under head coach Gabby Lisella.
A total of five points decided the two regular-season meetings with each winning on the other's home court. Matthews had a double-double of 20 points and 17 rebounds as Rowan outscored Montclair 21-15 in the fourth quarter for a 68-64 victory. Garofalo added 16 points with Schullstrom chipping in with 13. Sire scored 22 points along with 14 rebounds for Montclair, which got 18 points from
SAGE BENNETT.
Montclair State returned the favor in Glassboro a month later as Sire scored on a layup with five seconds remaining for a 71-70 Red Hawk victory. Sire finished with another double-double scoring 21 points in addition to 10 rebounds. Krauss scored a career-best 22 points, including four three-point field goals. Matthews too went for a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds leading four players in double figures.
The game matches up the NJAC's top offensive team in Rowan (78.9 points per game) against the league's best defensive team in the Red Hawks (53.3 points per game). The two also rank 1-2 in the conference in scoring margin (Rowan +12.5 ppg / Montclair State +11.7 ppg).
Schullstrom, a First-Team All-NJAC selection, leads the Profs in scoring at 16.2 points per game, one of three players in double figures. Sanchez, who was also named All-NJAC, is next at 10.9 points per game with Second-Team selection Matthews third at 10.8 points per game along with a team-best 12.5 rebounds per contest.
Sire, a First-Team All-NJAC pick, leads MSU in scoring at 13.2 points per game and 8.2 rebounds. Krauss, named to the NJAC Second Team, is next at 8.9 points along with 5.2 rebounds and a team-best 58 three-pointers.
This will be the eighth time the two have met in the NJAC Tournament and the first since 2008. Rowan has won five of the seven previous contests including a 66-54 win in the 1993 semifinals in Glassboro. Two years later, Montclair posted a 73-59 win en route to its first NJAC title. The Profs won semifinal contests in three of the next four years (69-48 in '96; 77-68 in '97; and 73-43 in '99) and then defeated the Red Hawks 69-59 in the first round of the 2005 tournament. Montclair State won the last matchup in 2008, 71-56.
The two also met twice in the 1970s for the NJAIAW championship with Montclair State winning both those games – 66-39 in 1973 and 61-53 in 1974.
Montclair State leads the all-time series 45-32 and had captured 15 of the last 17 contests against the Profs since the loss in the 2005 NJAC Tournament.
