Montclair, NJ – Junior forward Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) scored 18 of her 30 points in the second half and overtime as No. 8 Montclair State erased a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes topping Cabrini College, 78-73 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.

Junior guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) added 20 points as the Red Hawks (27-2) battled back from 16-points down in the second half to advance to the NCAA Sectional Tournament for the second consecutive season. MSU, which extended its winning streak to 13 games, will face Scranton in the Sectional Semifinals on Friday, March 14 at a site and time to be determined. Unbeaten FDU-Florham and Baldwin Wallace will meet in the other semifinal with the two winners meeting on Saturday, March 15 for a spot in the NCAA Division III Final Four in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Junior forward Amber Keys (Phoenixville, PA) posted a double-double and led four Cavaliers in double-figures as Cabrini finished the year at 24-5. The Cavaliers, the Colonial States Athletic Conference champions, were making their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and earned their first national tournament win on Friday evening against Moravian College.

Cabrini, which never trailed in the game until the final seconds of regulation, led 44-28 with 15:44 remaining as Keys hit two free throws. After Montclair managed to whittle the lead under double-digits, Keys hit again from the charity stripe giving the Cavaliers a 60-50 lead with 4:58 remaining.

The Red Hawks, who struggled from the floor throughout, finally found its shooting groove as Tobie scored on a layup and Aquino connected from behind the arc cutting the deficit to 60-55 with 3:19 remaining. Aquino then made a steal which turned into a basket for Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) and two foul shots by Tobie made it a 60-59 game with 2:10 to go. Kayla Ceballos (Brooklyn, NY, Christ the King) tied the game 29 seconds later hitting the first of two free throws.

Keys had a putback with 1:16 left putting Cabrini back in front however Tobie's layup at the other end knotted the game at 62-62.
Tobie came down with a rebound at the other end and Montclair, which had never led in the contest, had an opportunity which it took advantage of as Aquino made a perfect pass underneath to Tobie for the layup and a 64-62 lead with seven seconds to go. But the Cavaliers came down and after a timeout, perfectly executed an inbounds play to Keys, whose layup with 2.3 seconds left tied the game at 64-64 and sent the contest into overtime.

Aquino, who had seven points in the extra period, gave the Red Hawks at 67-64 lead with a three-pointer 20 seconds in but Annie Rivituso (Wilmington, DE) countered with two free throws and then hit two more after a Tobie layup as MSU held a 69-68 lead with 1:42 to play. Cabrini turned the ball over and that set up the biggest play of the game as Jenny Malone (North Plainfield, NJ, Roselle Catholic) deposited a three-pointer from the right corner extending the MSU lead to 72-68 with 43 ticks showing.

A three-pointer by the Cavaliers went off the mark with Tobie grabbing the rebound. She fed the ball to Aquino, who appeared to be fouled near midcourt. However, the expected call never came and Aquino drove in for an uncontested layup with 16 seconds left making the score 74-68. Undeterred, Cabrini answered back on a Keys layup with 10 seconds and after two Tobie free throws made the score 76-70, Dana Petersen (Woodbridge, NJ) hit from 22-feet out with three seconds to go giving Cabrini a chance.

But Aquino ended that with two foul shots as Montclair State won its first overtime game since 2009 while also extending its current home winning streak to 34 games.

Montclair State, which shot just 35 percent (26-of-74) for the game, saw Tobie post her third 30-point game this season as the NJAC Player of the Year, finished a rebound shy of a double-double and added five blocks and four steals. Aquino had four assists while Henry grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds along with six points and four steals. Freshman Rachael Krauss (Farmingdale, NJ, Colts Neck) was the third player in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. Malone had six rebounds.

Brittany Sandone (Harleysville, PA) had 13 points for Cabrini, which shots 52 percent in the first half en route to 39-26 halftime lead. Megan Decker (Philadelphia, PA) added 10 points and seven rebounds with Colleen Stewart (Scarsdale, NY) getting four along with eight rebounds.