Montclair, NJ – Junior guard Kate Tobie registered her second straight double-double with 18 points along with 11 assists as No. 17 Montclair State fended off several challenges from Rutgers-Newark for a 69-56 victory at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.

Zoe Curtis added 13 points and four rebounds for the Red Hawks, who improved to 16-1 on the year, 9-1 in the conference as it remained atop the NJAC standings. The win also gave Montclair a sweep of the season series with the Raiders (6-12, 4-7 NJAC).

Montclair never trailed in the game and led 12-7 with 1:50 to play before scoring seven of the final eight points of the period, including a buzzer-beating tip in from Taylor Harmon giving the Red Hawks a 19-8 lead after one period.

Rutgers-Newark's Faith Ashby scored the first basket of the second but Montclair State scored the next eight, the last on a layup from Sage Bennett for a 27-10 lead with 5:41 to play before halftime. Tiarra Dillard hit from behind the arc as MSU doubled up the Raiders 32-16 before the visitors closed out the half with a 10-4 run trimming the lead back to 36-26.

MSU increased its lead to 53-42 after three and led 58-44 following a Tobie three-pointer with 7:47 to play. But Rutgers-Newark ripped off the next 10 points with Ashby hitting twice from the charity stripe cutting the lead to 58-54 with 4:52 remaining.

Montclair answered with a 9-0 run that began with a three-pointer by Rachael Krauss which was followed by one from Tobie pushing the lead to 64-54. Yazmine Lacey added a basket before Tobie capped the run at the line giving the Red Hawks a 68-54 advantage with 1:16 to go.

Katie Sire had nine points and eight rebounds for the Red Hawks while Krauss added six points and seven rebounds. Lacey put up nine points and eight board with Harmon netting six points along with three assists.

Montclair is back in action on Wednesday, January 25 when it meets Ramapo College for the second time this season. The Red Hawks and Roadrunners will tipoff at 5:30 pm in the Bradley Center.