Box Score

 Montclair, NJ (1/6/10) – Junior forward Kisandra Ayanbeku (Brockton, MA / Randolph) posted a game-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Montclair State rolled to an 82-58 victory over Ramapo College in a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.

Senior forward Catherine Cristino (Farmingdale, NJ / Colts Neck) and sophomore guard Jaime Ericson (Flemington, NJ / Hunterdon Central) added 13 and 12 points, respectively as the Red Hawks won for the fourth time in their last five outings improving to 8-5 overall, 2-1 in the NJAC North Division.

Freshman forward Meghan Reilly (Morganville, NJ / Marlboro) added 16 points on a perfect shooting night (8-of-8) for Ramapo, which fell to 5-7 overall, 0-2 in the NJAC North Division.

Montclair State never trailed and led for all but 22 seconds of the game as the Red Hawks scored nine of the first 11 points of the contest. Ayanbeku and Reilly traded buckets in the opening minute before a layup by Ayanbeku gave MSU a 4-2 lead. Ericson followed with a three-pointer and a second layup by Ayanbeku with 16:39 to play made the score 9-2.

Reilly would hit her second basket of the night to cut the deficit back to five however Montclair countered with the next eight points to build a 13-point advantage. Ayanbeku had the first four points before two foul shots from Ericson put the Red Hawks up 17-4.

The Roadrunners would get the lead down to seven on five occasions, the last coming at 26-19 on Reilly’s jumper, however Ayanbeku converted a three-point play and Jamilee Pflug (Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson) hit from behind the arc as Montclair restored the lead to 32-19 with 7:11 left.

MSU led 36-28 at the break.

In the second half, four straight points by Ayanbeku and a three from Cristino made the score 43-30. Lindsey Gripenburg (Bloomingdale, NJ / Butler) connected on a short jumper to get Ramapo within 45-36 but Montclair went on a 19-2 run over the next five minutes to pull away. Cristino had six points in the spurt as MSU took a 64-38 lead with 10:41 left.

Pflug finished with eight points while Jessica Sartorio (Egg Harbor City, NJ / Absegami) added seven off the bench as Montclair got scoring contributions from all 14 players in the game. Jackie Berry (Tuckerton, NJ / Pinelands Regional) handed out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds.

Alexa Ryan (Hazlet, NJ / Raritan) and Faith Flannery (Red Bank, NJ / Keansburg) each had nine points for Ramapo while Danielle Beam (Middletown, NJ / Middletown North) added seven points and a team-best eight rebounds. Gripenburg chipped in with seven points and four rebounds.

Both teams return to action with NJAC inter-divisional matchups. Montclair State is off to Pomona, NJ on Saturday, January 9 to face Richard Stockton at 1:00 pm. Ramapo gets back on the floor on Monday, January 11 as the Roadrunners host Rutgers-Camden at the Bradley Center in Mahwah. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 5:30 pm.