Senior Janitza Aquino has improved her scoring average each year and the Red Hawks' postseason success has followed suit. Montclair State athletics file photo

By Gordon Mann
D3sports.com

UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- For the third straight season, the Red Hawks enter the New Year red hot.

Montclair State enters 2015 with a 12-0 record, 5-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. While some conference races haven't started yet, this one is close to being over. Montclair already has road victories over the three teams picked directly behind them in the preseason poll – Kean, TCNJ and William Paterson. Those teams will each get another shot at beating Montclair, but they'll get it at Panzer Gymnasium, where the Red Hawks haven't lost since January 2012.

As impressive as the Red Hawks' record is, the fast start isn't surprising. Montclair was selected 11th in the preseason Top 25 after going 28-3 last year and losing to eventual national champion FDU-Florham in the NCAA Tournament. Like last season, the Red Hawks are led by Melissa Tobie and Janitza Aquino who have been the cornerstones of coach Karin Harvey's program for years now.

Tobie has been a star since she arrived from Roselle Catholic High School in 2011. As a freshman she earned Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year and All-Region first team honors. She’s one of the most versatile players in women’s Division III basketball with the size, rebounding and shot-blocking skills of a power forward and the ball-handling and outside shooting skills of a guard. She's not listed on the Montclair roster as guard/forward because she doesn't have a position. She's listed that way because she can play most positions.

And the positions she doesn't play are in the good hands of fellow senior Janitza Aquino. As a freshman Aquino appeared in all 27 games and averaged four points per contest. The next season Aquino was slotted to play shooting guard alongside returning point guard Jenny Malone. But Malone suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason, so then-sophomore Aquino shifted into the point guard position.

Instead of taking a step backward, the Red Hawks took off. They rolled through the regular season undefeated, won the NJAC tournament and won two games in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Christopher Newport in the Sweet 16. Aquino shifted seamlessly into the new role, dishing out 81 assists (second on the team to Tobie) and scoring 10.6 points per game.

Malone returned last season, so Aquino's role changed again. In 2013-14 she still had more than two assists per game, but she continued her growth as a scoring threat. She upped her average to 15.6 points and hit the game-winning shot against William Paterson with nine seconds left in the NJAC title game. Aquino has shifted back to her usual shooting guard position but can still play the point when needed.

Twelve games into her senior season, Aquino has again increased her scoring average, now leading the team with 17.7 points. She leads the team in three pointers made, she's the team's most reliable free throw shooter and she can score around the rim.

Combined, Tobie and Aquino account for almost half of Montclair's points this season and their share of the team’s scoring has increased each year they’ve been there. But college doesn’t last forever, so Harvey and her staff have filled out the roster around these two seniors with underclassmen cut from the same versatile mold as Melissa Tobie. That includes Melissa's younger sister Katie, who is the starting point guard, and fellow freshman starter Katie Sire. They join Melissa, Aquino and sophomore Sage Bennett in the starting lineup.

Sire displayed her upside in Montclair State's 76-54 win over Salisbury at the Red Hawks’ holiday tournament. She’s got size at 5-10 and, equally important, she’s willing to use it around the rim. She averages 6.0 rebounds and scores 9.3 points per game, and gets those points without relying on threes. On defense Sire's size makes it difficult for smaller, opposing guards to get clean looks at the basket or set up their offense.

Aquino understands that the younger Red Hawks are important to the program's success, this season and once she and Tobie are gone. "It's fun. A lot of people always think it's difficult to have so many younger players on the team playing at such a high level."

"But it's fun. They've taken that challenge. And, at some point starting with Katie [Tobie] and Katie [Sire], they're going to be Montclair basketball."

When asked about her decision four years ago to attend Montclair State, Aquino cites the proximity to home (Kearney, New Jersey) and the opportunity to play for Coach Harvey, who is similar to her high school coach. "I love Coach Harvey. She's one of the main reasons I came here. I want to be a part of something great."

Off the court, Aquinio majors in justice studies. As a kid in Kearney she participated in DARE and after school programs run by police officers. Now she's thinking about returning the favor. "I have nieces and nephews that are only one and two, so I'm hoping that by the time I become a police officer, they can be involved in the DARE program and I can give back to the kids, like the police officers gave back to me."

For now Aquino is wearing Montclair red instead of police officer blue. There’s been a natural progression to the Red Hawks’ success since she and Tobie arrived, with the team moving at least one round further in the NCAA Tournament each season.

Does that mean that this season will end with a Final Four appearance in Grand Rapids, Mich.? And what if Montclair has to play the defending national champions who are so close geographically that a tournament rematch seems predestined?

"FDU is a tremendous team, definitely tough competition. It's all about builing on what we could've done in that game [in last year's tournament]. We've already played six or seven really tough teams that are potential NCAA Tournament teams, and that's what helps us a lot."

Guards with gusto have Salisbury on top

While Salisbury picked up its first loss of the season at Montclair State, the Sea Gulls are still off to their best start in years.

Salisbury sits atop the Capital Athletic Conference with a 4-0 record, including a 62-58 win over the Christopher Newport team that narrowly eliminated Salisbury from the conference tournament last year.

Salisbury's success starts in the backcourt with senior guards Anna Hackett and Sarah Seipp. Hackett has been a key contributor to the Sea Gulls since she arrived as a freshman and won conference Rookie of the Year honors. That same year Sarah Seipp also took home conference rookie of the year honors, sbut she did so with Virginia Wesleyan in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Seipp transferred to Salisbury last year and has provided the additional spark and scoring punch that the Sea Gulls needed to contend for the conference crown.

We spoke with the seniors about their different paths to Salisbury, what each brings to the program and why coach Kelly Lewandowski describes them as yin and yang.