Box Score
Ewing, NJ…The College of New Jersey women's basketball team hosted the Red Hawks of Montclair State University in the 2008 New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals in Packer Hall on Wednesday evening. TCNJ rolled to their eighth straight win to improve to 21-5 overall, while MSU drops to 17-10. TCNJ will now face defending league champion, Kean in the quest for the 2008 NJAC Championship and the league's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships.
Kean posted a 73-45 victory over William Paterson University in the other semifinal contest played at William Paterson University also on Wednesday evening, setting the stage for the 2008 title game which will take place at TCNJ's Packer Hall on February 29 at 7 p.m. TCNJ has won three previous NJAC titles (2005-06, 2003-04, and 2000-01), all under current head coach Dawn Henderson, this year's NJAC Coach of the Year. Kean, the league's defending champions, has earned the crown previously on 11 occasions.
TCNJ led 35-16 at the break and opened the game on a 7-0 run. Leading the way for the Lions was the 2007-2008 NJAC Player of the Year, junior center Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) as she led all players with 12 points and helped TCNJ shoot 50.0% from the floor (15-30).
By game's end, Klimowicz led all players with 19 points, while just missing the double-double as she had nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
TCNJ's freshman Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough), the 2007-2008 NJAC Rookie of the Year, added a double-double with 11 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. Senior Sara Best (High Bridge, NJ/Voorhees) also connected on a double-double for the Lions as she had 12 points and 11 rebounds. With her effort on Wednesday, she surpassed the 700 point plateau as she now has 707 points.
MSU's senior guard Jessica Garrabrant (Denville, NJ / Morris Knolls) had her streak of double-doubles snapped after three in her previous outings. She finished with seven points, and was held to just two rebounds. Garrabrant fell short of becoming the fifth player in school history to record 1,000 rebounds as has 996.
The Red Hawks were led by sophomore forward Catherine Cristino (Farmingdale, NJ/Colts Neck) with 10 points as she also had three blocks. Senior guard Cynthia Warrington (Villas, NJ/Lower Cape May Regional) chipped in eight points off the bench for MSU, while sophomore guard Kisandra Ayanbeku (Burlington, MA / Randolph) scored six points with a team-high six rebounds.
