Women's Basketball | 2/22/2018 12:04:00 PM

Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State women's basketball team takes aim at a sixth consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference championship when the top-seeded Red Hawks host No. 2 seed The College of New Jersey at the Panzer Athletic Center on Friday, February 23.

The Red Hawks (22-3) and the Lions (20-5) square off for the third time this season at 7:00 pm with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on the line. Not only are the teams first and second in the NJAC Tournament seeds, they are also ranked in the same positions in the latest NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings.

Montclair is looking to continue its stronghold on the league title having won 11 straight tournament games dating back to 2013. MSU's streak of conference crowns is the second-longest in league history trailing only Kean University's run of nine consecutive championships from 1983-90.

Both teams punched their tickets to the title game after registering similar type semifinal victories on Tuesday. Montclair State led by two at halftime but used a strong third quarter to pull away from fourth-seeded Rowan in a 65-55 win. Meanwhile TCNJ was up four at the half at home against third-seeded Stockton before going on to a 70-56 victory.

This will be the eighth time MSU and TCNJ meet in the NJAC Tournament but it's the first time they battle in the championship game. The Red Hawks won the first three tournament contests (1987, 1989 and 1990) with the Lions taking the next three including a 74-52 win in the semifinals in 2008. Montclair won the most recent game 58-53 in 2015 en route to its third conference championship.

Montclair State leads the all-time series 49-32 however the teams have split the last four contests, including both this season by identical three-point margins. The Red Hawks edged the Lions 54-51 at the Panzer Athletic Center on January 13. KATIE SIRE scored six of her 23 points in the final three minutes as MSU survived a comeback bid by TCNJ. A month later it was the Lions' turn as it used a strong second quarter and held off Montclair State, 62-59 at Packer Hall in Ewing, NJ.

Points may be hard to come by as the game features the NJAC's top two defensive teams. The Red Hawks are ranked first allowing just 51.8 points per game while TCNJ surrenders only 54.8 per contest. The teams are reversed in standing for scoring margin (TCNJ +13.2 / MSU +12.5) and they are also stingy when it comes to giving up three-pointers. Montclair has held its opponents to 22.7 percent from behind the arc while the Lions are nearly equal at 23.0 percent.

Sire leads Montclair State in just about every category. The senior is averaging 21.3 points per game – tops in the NJAC - and is pulling down 8.8 rebounds per contest along with 61 assists, 67 steals and field goal and free throw percentages of .500 and .826, respectively. Senior TAYLOR HARMON, who had 16 points in the semifinal victory, is next at 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Senior guard KATE TOBIE leads the league and is second in Division III averaging 7.2 assist per game along with a 9.3 ppg scoring average.

TCNJ counters with sophomore Jen Byrne, who is second in the league in scoring at 18.0 points per game. Shannon Devitt and Kate O'Leary average 9.7 and 9.3 points per game respectively. Devitt leads the team in rebounding at just under 10 per contest (9.4) with Byrne grabbing 6.1 per game.

Friday's game will also feature four of the NJAC's major award winners. Sire was named the league's Player of the Year for the second straight season while Devitt was chosen as the Rookie of the Year. Byrne was named First Team for the Lions with Charlotte Schum earning Honorable Mention accolades. Meanwhile the Red Hawks have two First-Team picks in Sire and Tobie with Harmon landing a spot on the Second Team.

Finally, in a rare occurrence the Coach of the Year winners will faceoff as MSU's Karin Harvey and TCNJ's Chessie Jackson shared the honor. Harvey was named for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time overall while Jackson was named in her inaugural year with the Lions.