JUMBOS RALLY, BUT LOSE TO HOSTS IN MSU TIP-OFF CHAMPIONSHIP
COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
MSU Tip-Off Tournament
Montclair State 77 Tufts 73
At Upper Montclair, NJ
Sunday, November 23, 2003
UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Freshman center Stephanie Machin scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to take Most Valuable Player honors as Montclair State defeated Tufts University, 77-73 to capture the MSU Tip-Off Tournament championship at Panzer Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore forward Ebony Allen was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Machin as the Red Hawks (2-0) held off a late Tufts rally. Sophomore Julia Verplank (Zeeland, MI), who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had 13 points, five assists and five steals for Tufts, which rallied from 10 points down in the final two minutes. In the Consolation Game, Manhattanville rallied to defeat FDU-Florham in overtime, 84-79.
Montclair State led 73-63 with 1:56 to play, but Verplank sank two foul shots and sophomore Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY) added two more to cut the lead to 73-67 with 1:18 to play. Verplank then stole the inbounds pass and scored on a layup to make it a four-point game, and a field goal by Allison Love (Duxbury, MA) with 58 seconds left pulled the Jumbos (1-1) within two. Freshman Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) tied the game at 73-73 with 33 seconds left, but Machin regained the lead for the Red Hawks as her short jumper put MSU in front. Tufts had one last chance, but a jump shot from the right side fell short and was picked up Montclair's Dyette Dillard, who was then fouled with two seconds remaining. Dillard made both free throws for the final margin.
Montclair State led 33-28 at halftime as Allen scored 12 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, while Shikeena Lynard added eight off the bench. Lynard had 13 points with Dillard and Pam Barone each scoring 10 as Montclair State placed five players in double figures. Allen grabbed nine rebounds while Dillard had eight. Barone collected seven rebounds and six assists as MSU outrebounded Tufts, 48-38. Senior tri-captain Erin Buckley (East Sandwich, MA) and Love had 11 points each for Tufts.
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