Montclair, N.J. (12/7/19) – The Kean University women's basketball team led wire-to-wire while picking up their third NJAC win of the season by defeating host Montclair State University, 71-62, on Saturday afternoon.

Payce Lange led all players with 22 points as one of three Cougars who finished in double figures.

Shannon McCoy started the game off with back-to-back layups as Kean (5-1, 3-0 NJAC) jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead.  The Red Hawks (4-3, 2-1 NJAC) were able to tie the game up at six all and closed within one on two separate occasions on the first half, but the Cougars put together short runs to pull the advantage out to double-digits for the first time with just over a minute to go in the half.  MSU scored the final points of the second quarter as Kean headed into the break with a 36-31 lead.

The Cougars used a balanced scoring attack in the final 20 minutes and pushed the advantage out to 11 on two separate occasions, the latter during a key run late in the fourth quarter.  Kean headed into the final 10 minutes up by seven, but the Red Hawks chipped away and came within two (58-56) as Rylee Mulligan hit a trey with 5:33 on the clock.  That would be as close as they would get as the Cougars used a quick 8-0 run, backed by four points from McCoy.  With less than a minute to go, Sarah Olivero collected three points from the charity stripe to help seal the win.

Lange added eight rebounds on the day while McCoy finished with 17 points.  Rookie Danielle Mills registered 11 points and four rebounds while graduate student Cindy Foresta had six points, 10 rebounds and five steals.

Kean returns to action on Wednesday when they host Ramapo College at 6 p.m.  Fans who bring three canned food items will receive free admission.  All food collected will be donated to the Cougar Food Pantry.