Glassboro, NJ – Junior Eliana Santana scored four of her 15 points in the closing moments of the game, helping Rowan University to a 75-69 victory over Montclair State at the Esby Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

Nicole Mallard finished with 20 points as the Profs ended the game on a 7-0 run and closed out their season at 16-8, 14-4 in the NJAC. Rowan will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and host one of four quarterfinal contests on Tuesday, February 22.

Senior guard JULIA SUTTON poured in a career-high 28 points for Montclair State (14-9), which finished its league slate at 12-6, one game ahead of William Paterson (11-7) for the No. 3 seed. The Red Hawks will also host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday against No. 6 seed New Jersey City. NJCU finished in a tie for fifth with Ramapo but lost the tiebreaker with the Roadrunners for the fifth seed.

It will be the second meeting between Montclair State and the Gothic Knights in a span of 10 days, third overall this season, and the third consecutive year the teams meet in the NJAC Tournament. The teams split the 2021-22 series, with Montclair winning 88-64 in Jersey City in January, with NJCU posting a 59-55 win last Saturday at the Panzer Athletic Center. They also met in the semifinals of the 2020 NJAC Tournament, with MSU winning 57-45. New Jersey City defeated the Red Hawks 64-60 last April in the league championship game.

The second meeting of the season with the Profs turned out to be a back-and-forth contest with 13 lead changes and five ties. MSU led 24-17 after the quarter and held a two-point advantage at the half. An 18-14 third quarter by Rowan gave the hosts a 57-55 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Mallard scored on a layup with 7:45 making the score 61-57; however, Sutton drilled one of her six three-pointers in the game to pull Montclair within a point. KENDALL HODGES put MSU in front on a driving layup; however, two free throws by Mallard swung the score back in the Profs' favor, 63-62, with 6:20 remaining. Sutton would connect again from behind the arc, but Santana countered, making 3-of-4 at the line, the last two with 4:40 to play, giving Rowan a 66-65 lead.

Montclair's MEGAN DUFFY and Rowan' Sam Rinaldi traded field goals and free throw by Sutton with 3:03 knotted the game at 68-68. Hodges hit from the line with 2:37 remaining as MSU led 69-68. But that would be the last point the Red Hawks would score the rest of the way.

Santana drove in for a layup with 1:27 left for the go-ahead score and, off a turnover, added another basket as Rowan took a 72-69 lead with just over a minute to play. Mallard tacked on one foul shot, with Kristina Johnson making two more with seven seconds left for the final margin.

Mallard added six rebounds and six steals, with Santana pulling down five rebounds. Dakota Adams chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

Hodges had 13 points, three rebounds, three steals, and two assists for Montclair State, which got 10 points and six rebounds from TRISHA PETERSON. NICKIE CARTER posted six points, five assists, and three rebounds.