Montclair, NJ – The second season begins for Montclair State and Rutgers-Camden as the Red Hawks and Scarlet Raptors meet in the quarterfinals of the 2021 NJAC Women's Basketball Tournament. MSU (6-1, 6-0 NJAC) enters as the top seed and faces eighth-seeded Rutgers-Camden (0-5) for the first time this season. The winner advances to the semifinals next Friday, March 12 against the winner of the Kean-Rutgers-Newark matchup.  


ON THE AIR:
YouTube - Red Hawk Sports Network (Jack Barteck and Sonny Bartell)
WMSC Radio – xxxxxx


THE TEAMS:
Montclair State enters the tournament having won six straight since a season-opening loss to Salisbury on January 25. The Red Hawks swept through their NJAC slate at 6-0 (its two games with Rutgers-Newark were canceled), including a sweep of previously unbeaten New Jersey City last Friday and Saturday. Junior guard JULIA SUTTON scored seven of her 10 points in a decisive fourth-quarter run as Montclair knocked off previously undefeated NJCU, 67-58 at home on Friday evening. Senior guard TAYLOR BROWN led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds with freshman guard KENDALL HODGES scoring 16 points. MSU completed the sweep less than 24 hours later by the identical score. Sutton scored a career-best 27 points, including six three-pointers. Hodges collected 14 along with six assists while junior TRISHA PETERSON pulled down 15 rebounds. On the other side, Rutgers-Camden has been idle since February 19 when the Scarlet Raptors dropped the first game of their back-to-back set with Stockton, 80-51. Jalissa Pitts had 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss with Chloe Bennet added nine points and Tiazha Jackson eight along with six rebounds. The rematch with the Ospreys the next day was canceled in addition to Rutgers-Camden's two-game series with Kean University last weekend.  


THE COACHES:
Annette Reiter (Eighth Season at RUC): 93-115 overall, 84-99 at Rutgers-Camden
Karin Harvey (14th Season at MSU):  303-102 overall, 290-88 at Montclair State


KEY PLAYERS:

Rutgers-Camden
Jalissa Pitts (So., G/F, 5-7, Sicklerville, NJ)
18.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, .397 FG%. .690 FT%, 9 AST, 8 STLS, 1 BLK

Tiazha Jackson (Jr., G, 5-5, East Palo Alto, CA)
12.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, .540 FG%., .667 FT%, 3 AST, 2 STLS

Kylar Coughlin (Jr., G, 5-6, Gloucester City, NJ)
8.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, .340 FG%. .667 FT%, 13 AST, 4 STL


Montclair State
TAYLOR BROWN (Sr., G, 5-11, Trumbull, CT)
12.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, .388 FG%. .636 FT%, 11 AST, 14 BLK, 11 STL

KENDALL HODGES (Fr., G, 5-5, Philadelphia, PA)
10.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG, .358 FG%. .750 FT%, 26 AST, 13 STL, 2 BLK

JULIA SUTTON (Jr., G, 5-6, York, PA)
11.9 PPG, 1.6 RPG, .377 FG%. .679 FT%, 6 AST, 4 STL, 2 BLK


TEAM STATS
Rutgers-Camden: 59.6 OFF, 74.6 DEF, 34.0 RPG, .385 FG%, .284 3FG%, .689 FT%
Montclair State: 64.7 OFF, 56.7 DEF, 44.1 RPG, .367 FG%, .314 3FG%, .699 FT%
 

NJAC TEAM RANKS

Scoring Off: MSU (3^rd 64.7 ppg) / RUC (5^th 59.6 ppg)
Scoring Def: MSU (3^rd 56.7 ppg) / RUC (8^th 74.6 ppg)
Scoring Margin: MSU (3^rd +8.0) / RUC (8^th -15.0)
Field Goal Pct.: MSU (4^th .367) / RUC (2^nd .385)
FG Defense: MSU (3^rd .341) / RUC (8^th .420)
3FG Pct.: MSU (3^rd .314) / RUC (6^th .284)
Free Throw Pct: MSU (2^nd .699) / RUC (3^rd .689)
Rebounding: MSU (1^st 44.1) / RUC (8^th 34.0)
Rebound Margin: MSU (3^rd +5.0) / RUC (7^th -8.8)
 
NJAC INDIVIDUAL RANKS

Scoring: Pitts (RUC) 3^rd / 18.6 ppg; Brown (MSU) – 9^th / 12.9 ppg; Jackson (RUC) – 11^th / 12.0 ppg; Sutton (MSU) – 13^th / 11.9 ppg; Hodges (MSU) – 18^th / 10.1 ppg; Coughlin (RUC) – 20^th / 10.0 ppg

Rebounding: Pitts (RUC) – 4^th / 9.2 rpg); Brown (MSU) – 5^th / 8.3 rpg; Smith (MSU) – 10^th / 7.0 rpg; Jackson (RUC) – 10^th / 7.0 rpg; Peterson (MSU) – 16^th / 6.1 rpg; Bush (MSU) – 20^th / 5.4 rpg

Field Goal Pct: Jackson (RUC) – 3^rd / .540

Free-Throw Pct.: Hodges (MSU) – 4^th / .750; Pitts (RUC) – 7^th / .682; Sutton (MSU) – 8^th / .679

Assists: Hodges (MSU) – 4^th / 3.7 apg; Coughlin (RUC) – 7^th / 2.8 apg;

Steals: Hodges (MSU) – 7^th / 1.9 spg; Pitts (RUC) – 10^th / 1.6 spg; Brown (MSU) – 10^th / 1.6 spg; Smith (MSU) – 15^th / 1.4 spg)
 

ALL-TIME SERIES: (MSU Leads 46-17)
The NJAC Tournament contest on Friday will be the 64^th between the Red Hawks and Scarlet Raptors. The two first met in January 1987 with Montclair posting a 102-43 win in Camden, its highest single-game point total in series history. MSU would win the first six games before Rutgers-Camden turned the tables winning five in a row during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. The Raptors would win six in a row in the early part of the 2000s. Montclair State dominated the series from 2004-2018 recording 24 consecutive games. The teams have split the last four meetings. Rutgers-Camden swept the season set in 2019 with Montclair State returning the favor last season, including a 74-59 victory in the last meeting between the teams. Included in the all-time series is three games in the NJAC Tournament. The Raptors won the first battle in 1992 knocking off Montclair 69-64 in the semifinals. Three years later, the Red Hawks claimed their first NJAC title with a 74-52 win at the Panzer Athletic Center. The teams also met in a play-in game in 1997 with MSU prevailing 78-65.

LAST 5 MEETINGS
2/19/20: MSU 74, RUC 59 (at Camden)
1/15/20: MSU 88, RUC 53 (at MSU)
2/13/19: RUC 64, MSU 54 (at MSU)
1/9/19: RUC 57, MSU 45 (at Camden)
2/14/18: MSU 79, RUC 60 (at MSU)

NJAC TOURNAMENT MEETINGS)
1992: RUC 69, MSU 64 (Semifinals)
1995: MSU 74, RUC 52 (Championship Game)
1997: MSU 78, RUC 65 (Play-In Game)