GARRABRANT, CRISTINO NAMED TO
ALL-NJAC TEAM

Montclair, NJ (2/27/08) – Senior guard Jessica Garrabrant (Denville, NJ / Morris Knolls) and sophomore forward Catherine Cristino (Farmingdale, NJ / Colts Neck) were selected Second Team and Honorable Mention, respectively as the New Jersey Athletic Conference unveiled its 2008 NJAC All-Conference Team on Wednesday.

Garrabrant and Cristino played integral roles in helping the Red Hawks to a second-place finish in the NJAC North Division this season at 8-5 and a 17-10 mark overall. MSU knocked off Rowan in the opening round of the conference tournament, its first NJAC postseason victory since 1998. Montclair fell to The College of New Jersey in the semifinals.

Garrabrant earned her third All-Conference honors and second appearance on the Second Team. The 5-10 senior is currently second on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and leads the Red Hawks in rebounding at 9.6 caroms per contest. She is ranked in the Top 15 in the NJAC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage (.465) and steals (49) and has recorded six double-doubles this season, including a 12-point, 17-rebound performance against Rowan in the opening round of the NJAC Tournament. In addition to her double-double performances, Garrabrant, a two-time Met Basketball Writers Honor Roll selection, recorded 16 games of 10 or more rebounds and had 14 contests of 10 or more points.

In conference play, Garrabrant’s numbers have been better as she averaged 11.2 per game in the 13 league contests and ranked 13 th in scoring while also ranking fourth in rebounding, eighth in field goal percentage (.483), second in free-throw percentage (.848) and eighth in steals (27).

Cristino, who averaged 4.0 points per game last season, nearly increased that total by almost nine points this year as she leads Montclair State in scoring averaging just under 13 points (12.9) while also leading MSU in field goal percentage (.475) and blocked shots (43). She is sixth in the league in scoring, eighth in field goal percentage, third in three-points field goals made (27) and third in blocked shots. Her numbers in NJAC games were nearly similar as she was sixth in scoring (13.0 ppg), fourth in three-point percentage (.368) and third in blocked shots (25).

Cristino scored in double digits in all but four of the Red Hawks 27 games this season. Included in that total were three 20-point effort, including a career-best 27 points as Montclair State downed William Paterson at home on January 16.