Montclair, NJ – It was an early-season matchup between the teams picked No. 1 and No. 2 in the NJAC preseason poll however it resembled a game more fitting for late February or early March.
Junior forward Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ / Roselle Catholic) scored 24 of her 26 points in the second half as No. 4 Montclair State overcame and 10-point halftime deficit in a 71-67 victory over William Paterson on Tuesday evening at the Panzer Athletic Center.
In a rematch of their NJAC Championship Game from last February, the Red Hawks outscored the Pioneers 46-32 over the final 20 minutes to remain unbeaten at 4-0 (2-0 in the NJAC) while the Pioneers suffered their second consecutive close loss in the conference and fell to 2-3 overall, 0-2 in the league. WPU fell at TCNJ, 79-78 on Saturday.
Not only did the game on Tuesday feature the two top teams in the NJAC it also featured two of the two players in Division III in Tobie and Pioneer senior guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, NJ / Cresskill). Borova tallied a game-best 27 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile Tobie added a double-double with 10 rebounds as she became the 18th player in Montclair State history to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. She now has 1,009 for her career.
William Paterson gave the Red Hawks all they could handle and led for nearly the entire first half. The Pioneers took advantage of two quick fouls against Tobie and Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL / Bolingbrook) that put the league's reigning Player and Defensive Player of the Year on the bench for a majority of the half.
The Pioneers snapped a 6-6 tie on back-to-back back baskets by the Dana Jeter (Hamilton, NJ / Steinert) and Ashley Marfo (Bergenfield, NJ / Bergenfield), who each finished with double-double performances. The lead grew to 19-12 on a Borova layup with 8:35 to play. Montclair State would cut the lead to 26-25 on a layup by Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ / Kearny) however the Pioneers ended the half on a 9-0 run, including the last five by Marfo for a 35-25 lead at the break.
Borova, the NJAC Player of the Week, had 14 points with Marfo getting nine as WPU limited Montclair to just 29 percent shooting (9-of-31) from the field.
In the second half, the Red Hawks quickly erased that deficit scoring the first 10 points and tying the game at 35-35 on a layup from Tobie with 16:35 to go. However William Paterson regained control and built the lead back to 47-40 on a Borova layup with 12:21 remaining. MSU countered with a 13-0 run to take the lead for good. Henry began the spurt with the first four points and Tobie hit for seven straight, including the go-ahead layup with 8:59 showing, before Aquino, who had 18 points in the game, capped it off for a 53-47 lead with just over eight minutes to play.
Two free throws by Borova, who was 11-of-12 at the line in the game, made the score 55-50 with 6:19 left however Tobie drained a three-pointer which put her over the 1,000-point mark and Henry followed with a steal and layup giving the Red Hawks a 60-53 advantage with 5:46 left.
William Paterson did not go away and battled back once more as Jeter scored on a layup to make the score 65-61 with 2:54 on the clock. Aquino hit on a short jumper only to be answered by Borova who then scored off an offensive round with 30 seconds left bringing WPU to within 67-65.
Montclair took possession and the Red Hawks were able to run off some clock before getting the ball into the hands of its best free-throw shooter Tobie, who fouled by Borova with 11 ticks left. It was the fifth foul of the game for Borova putting the Pioneers' best player on the bench. Tobie made it more significant hitting both free throws to put MSU in front 69-65.
But the Red Hawks committed a foul on the ensuing inbounds and sent Kristine Jackiewicz (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown) to the line with nine seconds left. Jackiewicz made both chances making it a two-point game again. MSU was able to get the ball into Tobie's hands again where she was fouled with eight seconds remaining. Tobie, who was 7-of-7 at the charity stripe, hit both for what turned out to be the final margin.
Henry had eight points and five rebounds for Montclair State, which shot 16-of-33 over the final 20 minutes while making all 11 of its foul shots. Tobie was 7-fo-14 from the floor in the second half and had three blocks for MSU. Sandra Gee had six points off the bench.
Jeter finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Marfo added 12 and 10 in her double-double.
Montclair State, which has now won four straight against its local rival, is now off until Wednesday, December 4 when the Red Hawks travel to Newark, NJ to face Rutgers-Newark in an NJAC matchup at 6:00 pm. William Paterson is at Stevens on Saturday, November 30 at 1:00 pm.