Montclair State 72, Gwynedd-Mercy 66

Box Score

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – A second-half push wasn't enough in Gwynedd-Mercy's 72-66 loss at Montclair State Thursday evening in non-league action.

The Griffins (7-4), who trailed by 11 at the half and by as much as 18 in the second, got within five with just over five minutes in the contest. The surge was led by senior Kristy McGrath (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) who tallied 15 of her game-high 24 points in the second stanza.

Kisandra Ayanbeku led Montclair (7-8) with 22 points. Teammate Jaime Ericson added 20 points and 12 boards.

Junior Bryn Cotteta (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) scored five of the Griffins first nine points, as GM led 9-2 to start the game. But Gwynedd wouldn't score over the next three minutes as the Red Hawks scored 11-straight points to take an early lead.

Later in the second stanza, the Griffins slowly saw the deficit grow, reaching as much as 53-35 with 14:30 in the contest. From there GM gave it one more try, outscoring MSU, 13-3, over the next five minutes to get within 56-48.

Junior Brittany Neill (Woodlyn, Pa./Archmere Academy), who scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, hit back-to-back jumpers to inch the Griffins closer, putting them down just five (63-58) with 5:42 remaining. The lead didn't last long as MSU used a quick bucket followed by a three-pointer, put GM back in a double-digit deficit.

Cotteta would finish with 13 points, six assists, and three steals. Neill grabbed eight rebounds. Each team shot under 35% from the floor respectively, but the Red Hawks, won the battle of the boards, 49-46.

The Griffins look to rebound on Monday when they welcome Neumann in a rematch of last season's conference championship game. The conference tilt tips off at 6 p.m.