Montclair, NJ… The College of New Jersey women's basketball team (11-4, 6-2 NJAC) went toe to toe with #23 Montclair State University (14-1, 9-0 NJAC) on Saturday, however came up just short by a final score of 54-51. Jen Byrne (Medford, NJ/Medford) scored a team high 20 points.

The Red Hawks jumped out to a 12 point lead after the opening quarter, however the Lions climbed back into it. With 45 seconds left in the first half, Nikki Schott (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills) scored from in close to cut the deficit to seven.

In the third period, the Lions remained resilient and refused to allow the Red Hawks to grab control of the game. The Lions slowly chipped away at the Red Hawk lead, as Byrne scored seven of the Lions final eight points in the quarter to pull the Lions within three. She was fouled with two seconds left, and converted on both free throws for her sixteenth and seventeenth points of the afternoon to make it 38-35. The back and forth battle continued in the final quarter, and a lay up from Samantha Famulare (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.) off a Byrne feed tied it up at 43 with 5:24 remaining. The Red Hawks scored from in close with just over two minutes left to go up 50-46, but on the next possession Byrne found Shannon Devitt (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) down low and the freshman converted to pull the Lions within two. After Montclair State hit two free throws to go up 54-51 with 13 seconds left, the Lions had one final chance to tie it up and send the game into overtime. Kate O'Leary (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) had a good look off a step back from beyond the arc, however it rimmed out.

Byrne continued her offensive success this season, as this marks the sixth time this season she has reached the 20 point plateau. Devitt continued to play well as she scored 11 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting from the floor, added eight rebounds and was also active on the defensive end as she tallied six steals. 

The Lions held an advantage in points in the paint 34-26, and rebounding 34-29. 

The Lions will return to the court for another NJAC battle on Wednesday, January 17th as they will take on Rutgers Camden in Packer Hall at 8pm.