Montclair State - 71, Farmingdale State - 61
Montclair, N.J. - Senior guard Katie Sire (Hazlet, N.J.) scored a career-high 30 points leading Montclair State to a 71-61 non-conference victory over Farmingdale State this evening. The FSC women's basketball team falls to 0-1 after the season opening loss.
Trailing 39-19 with 6:23 left in the second quarter, the Rams used an 11-0 run over the next 4:17 to cut the deficit to nine, 39-30.
The Red Hawks (1-0) would answer by closing the quarter with seven unanswered points as senior guard Kate Tobie (Elizabeth, N.J.) capped the half with a 3-pointer to put Montclair State ahead, 46-30.
After trading 3-pointers early in the third, Farmingdale State junior guard Alexis Antonacci (Plainview, N.Y.) recorded a layup to cut the Red Hawks lead to 13, 54-41.
Over the next 2:57, the Rams outscored Montclair State 7-2 after senior guard Liz Durchhalter (Franklin Square, N.Y.) tallied a pair of free-throws followed by an Essence Casey (Huntington Station, N.Y.) layup. Durchhalter would finish the run with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to eight, 56-48.
Red Hawks junior forward Domonique Wirsing (Kinnelon, N.J.) scored a layup at the third quarter buzzer as Montclair State went into the fourth leading by 10.
The Red Hawks extended their advantage to 65-51 with 6:11 left after Sire recorded a pair of layups and sophomore forward Alex McKinnon (Fairfield, Conn.) tallied all three free-throws after she was fouled from behind the arc.
FSC would answer with a Jasmine Sapp (Islip, N.Y.) jumper, a 3 from Kaelyn Ward (East Hampton, N.Y.) and an Antonacci layup to cut Montclair State's lead to seven, 65-58, with 3:47 remaining.
Sire registered the games next four points to seal the 71-61 non-conference victory for Montclair State.
The Rams were led by Casey, who totaled 20 points, including 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and Ward who recorded a game-high six steals to go along with 14 points.
Sire pulled in 11 rebounds and two steals to go with her 30-point performance, while Tobie scored 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
FSC next travels to play non-conference opponent Springfield in the Amherst Tip-Off Classic Invitational Tournament on Saturday, November 18th at 8:00 p.m.
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