Sire Leads Montclair State Over Brooklyn For 7th Consecutive Win

Montclair State Head Coach Karin Harvey said sometimes it is not pretty and doesn’t happen until the 4th quarter, you stay in the game and will find a way. That exact scenario played out at the Panzer Athletic Center on Tuesday night where the Red Hawks were locked in a close battle with Brooklyn College (7-2).

However, it was the seniors who stepped up, led by leading scorer Katie Sire, Taylor Harmon (9 points) and Kate Tobie. The trio jumpstarted an 11-0 run that propelled Montclair State (9-1, 5-0 NJAC) to a 48-37 victory, extending their winning streak to seven games.

The Red Hawks defense clamped down holding the Bulldogs without a point for over six minutes. Sire, a two-time NJAC Player of the Week, poured in 17 of her game-high 27 points in the second half. Sire is averaging 22 points per game this season and has two double-doubles.

“She (Sire) has put it all together as a great defender and talented scorer this year,” said Harvey. “I’m seeing her exert her will on us and refuses to lose. It’s so much fun watching her play, and her moves are ridiculous. I saw a play today I never saw her make. “The more that a defense is finding a way to stop her, she has found new ways to score and keeps doing it”

“We were struggling a bit scoring, and a lot of stuff was falling for me today and knew I had to take a lot of shots and my momentum to get people going and involved in the offense,” said Sire after the game. “We kept chipping away, and it takes the team, in general, a long time to get comfortable and especially in the fourth quarter we got a lot of different people for nice easy looks that gets them going and feeling good about themselves.”

“Tyler (Harmon) stepped up big for us and really big buckets and we got her in good places and opportunities to score. Some of the teams’ zone us and getting the ball in the paint worked for us today. ”

“It feels great getting off to a great start and took us in the beginning to figure out and we’re getting a lot of people stepping up, getting big buckets and playing big minutes and a confidence booster with so many new people in the program to have a record like that and everyone realizes what we can do and need to improve on.”

Despite being outrebounded 38-30, Montclair State dominated the points in the paint 38-8. The Red Hawks also forced Brooklyn College into 22 turnovers that led to 19 points. “The last five minutes was the intention on how we wanted to play the game, and sometimes it doesn’t go that way,” Harvey said. “Brooklyn is a really good team, and they took us out of what we wanted to do, but we played really good defense the whole game.”

Montclair returns to the hardwood court on December 29th, participating in the Gelston/Paskert Holiday Tournament at the Panzer Athletic Center. Last season the Red Hawks were 26-3, 16-2 in the NJAC, and won the regular season title and conference championship game.

“I like this team, and it’s challenging because we’re young and new people are taking a while to figure out the pieces,” Harvey said. “It’s like this brand new puzzle and every year it’s different and so are the pieces. We have been trying for a semester how to put these pieces together, and they have been working really hard, and I’m proud of where we are.”

“I told my team that with all the players we brought in and standing here at 9-1 is a tribute to my seniors on their leadership. We brought in the right kids who are dedicated and brought in the moment they stepped on campus. We’re going to take some time to work on skill development in practice, exams and see family. A pretty high powered tournament and a tough test for us and that’s what we wanted and looking forward to it.”