Ewing, NJ – Junior forward Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) registered her third straight double-double with 20 points along with 10 rebounds and five assists as No. 8/9 Montclair State closed out its regular season with a 63-49 victory over The College of New Jersey on Wednesday evening.

Junior guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) scored a game-high 21 points, including five three-point field goals, as the Red Hawks recorded their ninth straight victory improving to 23-2 overall while finishing 17-1 in the conference.  

Montclair, which already clinched the NJAC regular-season title, matched a program record for conference victories in a season set during the 1989-90 campaign when the Red Hawks also went 17-1. MSU, the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NJAC Tournament, is 33-1 in league play the last two seasons as it went unbeaten (16-0) in 2013.

Tobie scored 15 of her points in the first half as Montclair State took control midway through the first half building an 11-point lead after a 22-9 run. Trailing 9-7 Tobie scored on a layup to tie the game and Rachael Krauss (Farmingdale, NJ, Colts Neck) drained a three-pointer to put MSU in front for good with Zoe Curtis (Little Silver, NJ, Red Bank Regional) also connecting from behind the arc for a 15-9 advantage with 10:48 to play.

The Lions would cut the lead back to 21-16 with 7:23 remaining however Tobie scored five of the next seven points in the game and Kayla Ceballos (Brooklyn, NY, Christ the King) hit from long range as the Red Hawks opened the lead to 29-18 with 3:59 to go before halftime. Tobie would give MSU its largest lead of the half at 13 points before Montclair settled for a 33-24 advantage at the break.

Aquino scored Montclair State's first five points of the second half to extend the lead to double digits and Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) put in a layup for a 45-30 lead for the Red Hawks. TCNJ would get the deficit back under 10 points with 11:06 left on a jumper by Kylie O'Donnell but Tobie and Aquino collected consecutive baskets for a 49-36 Montclair lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.

The Lions (18-7, 14-4 NJAC), who will be the No. 2 seed in the NJAC Tournament, would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Ceballos had 12 points and four rebounds off the bench for MSU with Henry grabbing 10 rebounds.

The Red Hawks are now off until Tuesday, February 25 when it hosts an NJAC Tournament semifinal at the Panzer Athletic Center at 7:00 pm.