Montclair, NJ – Junior forward Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half as No. 12/14 Montclair State overcame a nine-point deficit in a 69-59 win over Ramapo at the Panzer Athletic Center on Thursday evening.

Tobie finished with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds as the Red Hawks (19-2, 13-1 NJAC) shut down the Roadrunners (10-11, 7-7 NJAC) in the second half to extend their winning streak to five games in addition to sweeping the season series against the Roadrunners. Montclair, which has won six in a row versus Ramapo, posted a 78-44 win in Mahwah in December.

Ramapo's Micaela Moore (Lindenwold, NJ / Lindenwold) and Anna Fucci (West Orange, NJ / West Orange) combined for 19 points in the first half as Ramapo used those two efforts along with a stingy defense to build a 36-27 lead at the break.

Moore had 10 points and Fucci nine, all on three-pointers, as the Roadrunners forced MSU into 10-of-34 shooting, 22 of those attempts coming from behind the arc as the Red Hawks made just five. Two of those came from Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) and Sage Bennett (Sicklerville, NJ, Winslow) in the first 1:45 of the game as MSU led 6-0.

But Ramapo countered with a 9-0 run to take the lead and added another nine-point surge near the 11-minute mark to take an 18-10 lead with 11:01 left. Montclair State would get the lead down to 20-17 on a basket by Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) however Ramapo countered with a 14-2 run over the next six minutes to open up a 34-19 advantage with five minutes remaining in the opening half. Tobie, limited to just nine minutes in the first half with two fouls, hit twice from the line with 17 seconds left as Montclair trimmed the lead to nine at the break.

In the second half, MSU continued to chip away at the lead only to see Ramapo answer as a three-point play by Kelly Haspel (Lincroft, NJ / Middletown South) put the Roadrunners in front 45-40 with 10:30 remaining.

Montclair then exploded on an 11-point run which started on a three by Aquino, who collected 18 points in the game and a layup by Tobie that gave MSU its first lead since the early part of the game at with 9:36 left.  The two then reversed the scoring pattern with Tobie hitting from behind the arc as Montclair State led 51-46 with 7:31 to go.

Moore stopped the run with two free throws cutting the lead back to four points but Tobie put in back-to-back layups pushing the Montclair advantage to 55-47 with 4:58 remaining. After Ramapo got within five points, Kayla Ceballos (Brooklyn, NY, Christ the King) connected on a three-pointer from the corner with 3:01 left which all but ended any Ramapo comeback.

Tobie added three assists and two blocks while Aquino dished out five assists. Henry had nine points, seven steals and a game-high 13 rebounds including 10 on the offensive glass. Ceballos had seven points and three assists for MSU, which outrebounded Ramapo 41-31 with 19 rebounds on the offensive side compared to just seven by the Roadrunners.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday, February 8 with road NJAC games. Montclair State is in Galloway Township to face Richard Stockton at 1:00 pm while Ramapo heads to Glassboro for a 5:00 pm contest with Rowan University.