When the calendar flips from February to March, college basketball becomes an entirely new season. Yet, the Montclair State University women’s basketball team has continued its high level of play. As the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament commences, and the best in the sport duke it out, the Red Hawks will need another stellar performance to survive and advance.
The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) champions will head to the nation’s capital Friday for a bout with the local Christopher Newport Captains. While the Red Hawks are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the pandemic, this is a familiar situation for the Captains. They have held the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference crown each of the last five eligible seasons (canceled in 2020-2021 due to the coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic), and have won at least one game in the national tournament each of the last eight eligible seasons. And they are 26-1.
Christopher Newport has not lost a game in the new year, and selfless basketball has manufactured their success. Their leading scorer, fifth-year guard Camille Malagar averages 10.2 points per game, the only person on the team averaging double-figures. Astonishingly, there are 10 different players averaging at least five points per game. The willingness to spread the wealth has helped the Captains earn the number 20 spot in the latest Division III NCAA Power Index rankings.
The Red Hawks sit at number 52 in the NPI rankings, but are on the heels of an NJAC Championship victory in which they avenged their regular season finale loss to The College of New Jersey, Montclair State’s lone loss in 2025. In the conference final, the Red Hawks did not trail once. They anchored down defensively and held the NJAC Player of the Year to just three points. More than anything, it felt like a statement victory for a team that was picked to finish seventh in the NJAC in a preseason coaches poll.
The Red Hawks will play Christopher Newport University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. | Photo Courtesy of Montclair State Athletics
A tall task stands between Montclair State and the round of 32, set to take place Saturday. But the real hard work was the one-year turnaround of a program that had little clarity regarding its direction at this time last year. Now, the unlikely NJAC Champions will look to pull it off again, this time on the national stage.
Bring on the madness.
