Summit traveled to Jersey City to take on the 8^th seeded Lincoln High women’s team in the first round of the state playoffs.  Many fans braved the cold and the long trip to attend the contest, and they were not disappointed, as Summit and Lincoln battled evenly through three quarters.  Summit jumped out early on some fine outside shooting by Emily Cristaldi, who hit for 5 on her first two shots of the game. And baskets by Alex Reid and Shannon Murphy gave Summit a 9-3 lead.  But Lincoln came storming back and scored the next 10 points on a three and some athletic drives to the hoop.  Cristaldi again lit up the beginning of the second quarter with a 3-point field goal and a driving layup off a steal, but Lincoln matched Summit shot for shot.  Summit got some nice balance in their scoring from Cassie Hall and Melissa Scott, who each chipped in a field goal, and trailed by only 1 at half.  The third quarter saw the veterans of the team begin to make their mark, with some nice scoring from Jamie Osmulski and Reid, who each had 4 in the quarter, to help Summit tie it up.  The fans in attendance were all yelling encouragement for the Summit team to play tough defense as the girls came out for the 4^th quarter, and boy did the Lady Hilltoppers respond, playing their best defensive quarter of the year.  With Jenna Wilson bottling up Lincoln’s speedy point guard and Alex Reid blanketing Lincoln’s star player, Lincoln could barely get a shot off, and when they did Summit controlled the rebound.  The offensive spark Summit needed was provided by co-captain Jenna Wilson, who made two gutsy drives down the teeth of the Lincoln defense and also hit a nice 20 foot jumper, as Summit opened up some breathing room.  Summit then controlled the ball and found open looks for Osmulski with 4 in the quarter, Reid with 3 and Scott with 2.  But it was Wilson who controlled the ball at the top of the offense and gave Summit the confidence they needed to carry them to their first state playoff victory since 2000!