Ewing, NJ (2/27/08) – Sophomore forward Catherine Cristino (Farmingdale, NJ / Colts Neck) scored 10 points while senior Cynthia Warrington (Villas, NJ / Lower Cape May Regional) added eight points, however the Montclair State women's basketball team was knocked out the NJAC Tournament on Wednesday with a 74-52 loss to The College of New Jersey.

The loss marked the third straight season the MSU was eliminated from the NJAC Tournament by the Lions. TCNJ, which won the regular-season matchup 61-58 on January 12, defeated MSU in the semifinals in 2006 and the opening round last year.

Montclair, which had its four-game winning streak snapped, fell to 17-10 overall. The Red Hawks will now wait to see if they are selected to the ECAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, March 5. Bid announcements will be made on Monday, March 3. MSU is the defending Metro champion as it claimed its fifth ECAC title in 2007.

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.

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.

Cristino also had three blocks while sophomore guard Kisandra Ayanbeku (Burlington, MA / Randolph) scored six points with a team-high six rebounds.