Montclair, NJ- The Montclair State University women's basketball team (4-0) took care of business in the Panzer Athletic Center when they defeated visiting Valley Forge, 80-50 on Thursday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The Red Hawks jumped out early with a 9-0 run in just over three minutes into the contest. ALYSSA CRAIGWELL scored the opening bucket and was followed by a layup and a three-point shot from ALEXIS STROLLO. Craigwell tipped in a layup before Valley Forge scored their first points off two free throws with 6:29 left in the first quarter. Montclair went on another unanswered run, this time with eight points. OLIVIA VERO found two field goals and the other four points were scored by a combination of LYNDSEY ROSS and DAJA WENTZ. The Patriots found two more buckets in the quarter and the Red Hawks saw three more points on a Strollo free throw and a SAMANTHA PHILIPP layup from BRIANNA MONTAJES to wrap up the first period with a 20-6 lead.
• Montclair got the first points of the second quarter on a layup from Strollo and a jumper from Phillip, but was answered by Valley Forge, who found a pair of layups in the paint. ALEXIS STROLLO knocked down a three and was followed by a Phillip transition layup from SOPHIE BENEVENTINE to push the score out to a 29-10 advantage at the 5:45 mark in the second quarter. Every time the Patriots tried to claw back and scored points, the Red Hawks doubled it and they eventually took a 42-18 lead into the second half.
• The third quarter saw more of a back-and-forth then the first two. Both teams exchanged four points with Vero putting in the first four of the quarter for the Red Hawks. Valley Forge created a small run of 6-2 to cut the lead to 48-28 with 5:31 remaining. Montclair pushed away again with seven unanswered on a three-point shot and a layup from AMANDA CASTRO and a tip in from Phillip to bump the score up to 55-28. Valley Forge then created a small 5-2 run before Montclair closed out the quarter with six unanswered points from Ross, Montajes and Vero to take a 63-33 lead into the final quarter of play.
• Buckets from SHANNON HUGHES and Craigwell opened up the final quarter and was answered by five points from the Patriots' Dominique Barnes to make the score 67-38. Both teams exchanged four points before MALVINA SULLIVAN scored her first bucket with a three pointer. The final three minutes saw each team scored six points for an 80-50 final. SALANGE BELL knocked down all six points on two three-point balls to close out the night for Montclair.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 

• The Red Hawks move to 4-0 and continue the trend of the 2016-17 team which was the last time the team has started 4-0.
• Vero led the way again in scoring with 14 points to go along with four rebounds, two steals and a block
• Montclair saw 42 points come from their bench which was led by Castro who scored 12 and led the team in rebounds with six.
• The Red Hawks out rebounded the Patriots 49-39, that included 29 offensive rebounds which is a team-mark this season

FROM THE COURT

"We had contributions from the entire team, especially in the rebounding column. Strong team win, and we look forward to conference play starting next week!" - Head Coach Karin Harvey
 
NEXT UP

Montclair State University will open up NJAC play on the road on Tuesday, November 26 for a 5:30pm contest at Rowan.