Montclair, NJ - Kean University's Shannon McCoy scored a game-high 29 points as the sixth-seeded Cougars ended Montclair State's six-year hold on the NJAC championship with a 72-67 victory in the first round of the tournament at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.
Cindy Foresta added a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds as Kean (13-13) moves on to the semifinals where it will face Rowan University on Wednesday, February 20 at 7:00 pm. Payce Lange had 16 points.
Senior forward
DOMONIQUE WIRSING had a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds for Montclair State (16-10), which had its 12-game conference tournament win streak snapped with the loss. Ironically, MSU's last defeat came in 2012 against the Cougars in the semifinals.
The Cougars led 16-12 after one quarter and increased its lead to 22-14 with 6:50 to go in the second as Foresta hit two from the line. McCoy's three with a little over three minutes remaining made it a 32-22 contest before Montclair ended the half with an 8-3 run to get within five. Freshman guard
JULIA SUTTON registered the last five as the Red Hawks trailed 35-30 at the break.
Montclair State opened the second half with a 10-2 run to grab its first lead since the early moments of the game. Guard
CERYS MACLELLAND converted back to-back layups for a 40-37 lead with 6:50 left. McCoy regained the lead for Kean, 43-41 midway through the period however a jumper from
ALEX MCKINNON hit a jumper with 2:11 to go knotting the game at 48-48. Casey Filiault and
KIM CALLOWAY traded three-pointers as the two headed into the fourth tied at 51-51.
McKinnon began the fourth with a jumper and a
TAYLOR BROWN three-pointer gave Montclar a 56-51 lead however Kean scored the next six for a 57-56 advantage. The lead changed hands two more times before McCoy's three with 6:11 showing made the score 62-58. She added another a minute later extended the lead to 65-60. MacLelland cut that back to three-point with a layup which was answered by two McCoy free throws.
Brown drained a three-pointer from the left corner to get MSU within 67-65 with 1:04 remaining. Two free throw by Wirsing drew Montclair closer at 68-67 with 46 seconds to play. But that would be as close as Montclair State would get at Kean hit 4-of-6 at the line in the final 34 seconds.
Calloway finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Red Hawks while MacLelland chipped in with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. McKinnon scored 11. MSU shot 51 percent from the field (27-of-52) in the game but committed 24 turnovers which led to 27 points for the Cougars.
