Ewing, NJ – Senior forward Taylor Jeffers (Franklin Township, NJ, Franklin) recorded her second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds as Montclair State continued its winning ways as the Red Hawks raced past The College of New Jersey, 61-39 on Wednesday evening at Packer Hall.

Sophomore guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) added a game-high 15 points as MSU, ranked 12th by D3Hoops.com and 16th in the WBCA Top 25, extended the best start in school history to 15-0 while upping its New Jersey Athletic Conference record to 8-0.

Montclair State, which knocked off the Lions (9-5, 5-2 NJAC) for the third straight time, never trailed in the contest and led for all but one possession as they improved to 39-30 all-time versus TCNJ.

Tied 2-2, the Red Hawks would score 14 of the next 16 points in the game as they turned up the defensive pressure against the Lions. Montclair, which entered the game ranked No. 2 in scoring defense in Division III forced 10 turnovers in the first 5:15 of the contest to take a 16-4 advantage.

Sophomore Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) snapped the tie with a jumper and the hit from behind the arc for a 7-2 lead. Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) and Aquino scored on layups before Henry tacked on four more points as the lead grew to 14-2 with 14:16 to go. Tobie would get the final bucket as Montclair had a 12-point lead with 12:34 remaining.

TCNJ would answer with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 16-13 on a layup by Candace Vigo however that turned out to be the closes the Lions would get as Jen Kuczynski (Springfield, NJ, Jonathan Dayton) buried a three-pointer and Aquino connected twice at the foul line before Henry's two free throws with 4:29 to go boosted the lead back to 23-13.

The Red Hawks led 32-16 at halftime thanks in part to 15 turnovers by New Jersey which translated into 16 points for Montclair, which also held the Lions to 7-of-26 shooting (27 percent).

In the second half, Taylor would score 12 of her 14 points as Montclair maintained its double-digit advantage. TCNJ would get the lead back under 10 points twice, the last coming with 7:50 remaining on a Colleen Duffy jumper that made the score 41-34. But Jeffers tallied eight consecutive points over the next two minutes giving MSU a 51-34 lead.

Freshman guard Kelly Williams (Titusville, NJ, Hopewell Valley) had 13 points off the bench for Montclair State, which got nine points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals from Tobie. Henry chipped in with a fine all-around game as well going for seven points, five rebounds, five assists and eight steals.

MSU returns to action on Saturday, January 12 as they host Kean University in a 3:00 pm NJAC matchup at the Panzer Athletic Center.