Glassboro, NJ- The Montclair State University Women's Basketball team (4-1, 0-1 NJAC) saw their undefeated start to the season come to an end as they were stalled on the road at Rowan (2-2, 1-0 NJAC), 75-45 during their New Jersey Athletic Conference opener on Tuesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• SOPHIE BENEVENTINE found BRIANNA MONTAJES right off the tip for the first bucket of the game. After a few defensive stops by both teams, Rowan struck with a layup and a three-point shot to go up 5-2. Montajes found another layup before a Rowan hit another shot from deep. ALYSSA CRAIGWELL scored the next two buckets of the game to tie the contest up 8-8 at the 6:21 mark in the first quarter. After Craigwell's second layup, Rowan took command of the quarter, scoring 11 unanswered points and put together a 17-1 run to take a lead of 25-9 with 3:35 remaining in the opening quarter. Both teams exchanged offensive possessions for the remainder of the quarter. OLIVIA VERO scored two buckets in the paint, SHANNON HUGHES notched a jumper beyond-the-arc, and SAMANTHA PHILIPP connected on a jumper while the defense held the Profs to just four points in the rest of the quarter to hold the score at 27-18 Rowan heading into the second quarter.
• Both defenses held strong in the first minute and a half of the quarter before Rowan scored the first jumper. The Red Hawks scored six points to Rowan's two between the 7:56 and 6:29 timestamps to cut the lead to 31-24, but Rowan dominated down the stretch with a 16-2 run to close out the first half with a 47-26 advantage.
• The run continued into the second half with the Profs scoring seven unanswered points to open up the third quarter. Two pointers from Beneventine and Craigwell halted the run and made the score 54-30 with 6:41 left in the third quarter. Succeeding a Profs layup, AMANDA CASTRO buried a three-point shot to spark an 8-2 run for the Red Hawks that cut the deficit to 58-38. A pair of three-pointers from Rowan closed out the third quarter and set the score at 64-38 heading into the final quarter.
• After Rowan scored a three pointer and a tip in during the first minute and a half of the fourth quarter, both defenses clamped down and there was a scoring drought for over four minutes that was eventually stopped by Craigwell, who scored a bucket at the 4:17 mark. Each team scored six points down the stretch that concluded with a 75-45 win for Rowan. Hughes and MALVINA SULLIVAN scored the final points for Montclair on three balls.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 

• Craigwell led the team in scoring for the second time this season, scoring nine points while also tallying four steals and three rebounds.
• Philipp was active on the boards for the Red Hawks, leading the way with seven rebounds to go along with three points and three steals
• Montclair saw 19 points off the bench, 18 in the paint, and 13 off second chances in the contest.

From the Court 

• "Tough night for the Red Hawks. Rowan was firing on all cylinders and we couldn't get anything going. Disappointing outcome, but we never stopped working. All of us are looking forward to getting back to practice after a little holiday break." Head Coach Karin Harvey

 
NEXT UP
 

• Montclair State University will stay on the road and in their NJAC schedule when they travel to take on William Paterson on Wednesday, December 4. Tip-off for the game is slated for 6:00pm.