Mahwah, NJ – Sophomore forward Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) posted her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds as Montclair State clinched the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 79-56 win over Ramapo College at the Bradley Center on Wednesday evening.

Freshman Shalette Brown (Somerset, NJ, Franklin Township) added a game-high 18 points along with nine rebounds as the Red Hawks, ranked No. 8 by D3Hoops.com and No. 10 in the USA Today Sports Division III Women's Top 25, remained one of four unbeaten teams left in the nation improving to 21-0, 13-0 in the NJAC.

Montclair also locked up the No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament which gets underway on Saturday, February 16. MSU will receive a first-round bye and host a semifinal matchup at home on Wednesday, February 20 against an opponent to be determined. It will be the sixth straight season that Montclair State has reached the semifinals and the first time it will be the tournament's No. 1 seed since the 2008-09 campaign.

Jackie Jerkovich had 10 points, four rebounds and six assists for the Roadrunners, who fell to 15-6 overall, 8-4 in the NJAC. Ramapo is currently in a third-place tie with The College of New Jersey.

Montclair swept the season series with the Roadrunners for the second straight year and now holds a 45-9 lead in the series in addition to capturing 12 of the last four meetings, including a 61-40 victory at home on December 5.  

The Red Hawks scored the first four points of the game as Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) and Taylor Jeffers (Franklin Township, NJ, Franklin) each connected on short jumpers. Following a basket by Ramapo, Montclair State scored 12 straight points to take a 16-2 lead. Jeffers had four points and Kelly Williams (Titusville, NJ, Hopewell Valley) buried a three-pointer as Montclair State built a 14-point cushion with 14:23 to go in the opening half.

Ramapo responded with a 10-0 run of its own to trim the lead back to 16-12 however Tobie scored five points as part of a 10-0 spurt by Montclair as the Red Hawks led 26-12 with 7:43 left.  The Red Hawks would go on to outscore the Roadrunners 18-11 the rest of the way to take a 44-25 halftime lead.

Brown had 12 points and Tobie 13 for Montclair State, which grabbed 14 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes and forced 15 turnovers which led to 23 points.

Jeffers finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for MSU, which got nine rebounds from junior Nicosia Henry. Williams had 11 points off the bench to give Montclair, which totaled 24 offensive rebounds in the contest, four players in double figures.

Hannah Jensen led Ramapo with 12 points while Micaela Moore had eight points and eight rebounds.

The Red Hawks return home on Saturday, February 2 to face Richard Stockton at the Panzer Athletic Center beginning at 3:00 pm.