Montclair, NJ – Junior forward Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) scored 16 points as No. 8 Montclair State connected on its first five attempts from the field racing out to a 14-point lead in the first half en route to a 78-51 victory over Regis College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship at the Panzer Athletic Center on Friday evening.

The Red Hawks (26-2) shot 69 percent from behind the arc (9-of-13) in the first half as they advanced to the second round of the tournament with their 12th straight victory. Montclair will face Cabrini College (24-4) in the second round on Saturday, March 8 at 5:00 pm with the winner advancing to next week's Sectional Tournament.

Freshman Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, MA) had 18 points for the Pride, who finished the season at 23-5. It was the third consecutive 20-win season for Regis, which earned its way into its second NCAA appearance after winning the New England Collegiate Conference last week. The loss also snapped the Pride's 17-game winning streak dating back to January when Regis fell to No. 6 Tufts.

Last season, Montclair knocked off Regis in the first round of the NCAAs at Lebanon Valley College scoring the game's first 10 points in an 87-47 win. It was almost an identical start on Friday evening as MSU put up 11 of the game's first 12 points.

Tobie drained a three from the left corner to open the scoring and after a free throw by the Pride, Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny), who hit the game-winning shot in MSU's conference championship game last week, also buried a three-pointer with Tobie adding a layup before a three-pointer by Jenny Malone (North Plainfield, NJ, Roselle Catholic) made the score 11-1 with 17:39 left.

Hawkesworth snapped the run with a layup however back-to-back three-pointer by Aquino and Malone followed by an Aquino layup increased Montclair State's lead to 19-3 with 14:14 to go. A three-pointer by Hawkesworth made the score 27-8 but Sage Bennett (Sicklerville, NJ, Winslow) answered a one of the nine three-pointers in the half by the Red Hawks pushing the lead back over 20 points for the remainder of the game.

Montclair State shot 59 percent from the floor overall in the first half (20-of-34) and finished the game at 50 percent (27-of-54). MSU also outrebounded the Pride 39-29 in the game and turned 17 turnovers by Regis into 26 points. Montclair also got 32 points from its bench, including 13 by freshman Zoe Curtis (Little Silver, NJ, Red Bank Regional) who also had team honors with six rebounds.

Malone added five rebounds and five assists with Rachael Krauss (Farmingdale, NJ, Colts Neck) also collecting five rebounds in addition to scoring five points. Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) posted five steals along with four points and three rebounds. Tobie rounded out her evening with four blocks, three rebounds and two steals as she also became the first Red Hawks to surpass the 500-point mark in a season since Kim Wilson scored 548 during the 1990-91 campaign. Tobie has 512 for the year.

Junior guard Janaya Bradley (New Haven, CT) had 10 points, three rebounds and three steals with Emilee Marro (Bedford, NH) added nine points, three rebounds and three steals. Senior Claire Ramonas (Portland, ME) closed out her outstanding career with seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.