Galloway Township, NJ – Senior guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ / Kearny) scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half as No. 7/8 Montclair State claimed its third consecutive NJAC regular-season championship with a 50-47 victory over Richard Stockton on Wednesday evening.
Senior Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ / Roselle Catholic) and freshman Katie Sire (Hazlet, NJ / Raritan) combined for 18 points and 17 rebounds as the Red Hawks (24-1, 17-1 NJAC) also wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament which begins on Saturday, February 21.
MSU, which has won the last two conference crowns, will have first-round bye and host a semifinal contest at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 pm against either William Paterson or The College of New Jersey. Those two teams square off in a first-round battle on Saturday.
Freshman Sasha Williams finished with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Ospreys (20-5, 16-2), who will be the No. 2 seed in the NJAC Tournament and will also host a semifinal next Wednesday evening.
A month ago Stockton handed Montclair its lone loss of the season with a 61-60 triumph at the Panzer Athletic Center. The defeat snapped MSU's 42-game home winning streak at the time however the stakes for tonight's game were much higher for the two teams who came in ranked No. 1 and No. 4 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings.
Both teams struggled mightily from the field in the first half going a combined 13-of-62 (21 percent) from the floor including misses on all 11 attempts from behind the arc. Stockton, which was 5-of-25 from the field in the first half managed to build a 12-7 with 15:21 to play as Sara Farrell, who had 15 points and seven boards, scored on a layup.
MSU would respond with a six-point run capped off by Kayla Ceballos' (Brooklyn, NY / Christ the King) layup for a 13-12 lead with 9:03 to go however a Williams bucket three minutes later put Stockton back on top 14-13. Those would be the last points of the period for the Ospreys although the Red Hawks only managed four themselves. A steal and layup by Sire with 3:52 left and jumper by Aquino with 1:52 to go finished off the low-scoring opening period as MSU led 17-14 at the break.
A three-point by Aquino four minutes into the second half widened the MSU to 26-18 and back to back three's from Tobie and Aquino later pushed the lead to double digits at 36-26 with 12:32 remaining. Montclair led 43-36 with 6:55 left before Stockton pulled within 44-43 a little more than a minute later. Sire answered with a layup and Aquino a jumper in the lane pushing the lead back to 43-48 with 4:40 showing.
Williams made it a three-point game on the next possession down the floor and the teams went scoreless for the next four minutes before a jumper from Alex Nardoza with :42 left got the Ospreys within 48-47. A Montclair miss with 25 seconds on the clock gave Stockton a chance to win the game however Nardoza's jumper with four ticks failed to go through the net.
Ceballos grabbed the rebounds and was fouled. She hit both attempts for the final margin.
Tobie had nine points and nine rebounds while Sire had nine points and eight points. Katie Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ / Roselle Catholic) had three –points and seven rebounds with freshman Taylor Harmon (Saddle Brook, NJ / Saddle Brook) pulling down six caroms.