Montclair, NJ – The women's basketball team opened their 2019-20 season against Montclair State University earlier this evening. Despite having three score in double figures, the Hawks fell to the home team by a score of 66-58.
 
Janine Conway led the Purple and Gold with 14 points and eight boards while Phoebe Valenton chipped in with 13 points on 4-9 shooting from the field. Theresa Leung drilled three triples which contributed to her 11 point output.
 
In the first two quarters, despite shooting over 40 percent from the field, Hunter found themselves down by five due to Montclair hitting 10-14 from the charity stripe. With 3:24 showing in the first quarter, a fast break jumper from Valenton gave her team an 11-9 lead. However, the hosts closed the final minutes of the quarter with a 9-4 run to go up 18-13.
 
Hunter came back in the second and led for the majority of it with their last lead coming at the 27-25 mark after Kristina Krslovic made a free throw with 2:33 left. However, they went cold and missed their final three attempts from the floor while Montclair added seven unanswered points to head into the half up 32-25.
 
The deficit ballooned to as much as 12 points on two separate occasions in the third. Head Coach John Garrett's squad managed to cut the deficit to as little as five points with just under 2:30 left in the game, but it's as close as they would get after missing on their final four shots.
 
Hunter returns to action on Friday, November 15 when they host their annual Tip-Off Tournament. They will face SUNY Old Westbury at 5pm. The second game of the day will feature Rowan against Western Connecticut State. The winners of each game will meet on Saturday in the Championship at 2pm while the consolation game will be at noon.