Montclair, N.J. (2/15/14) – Melissa Tobie poured in a game-high 33 points to lead #11/14 Montclair State University to an 87-54 win on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the loss, the Cougars (13-11, 10-7 NJAC) have locked up the fourth seed in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) playoffs and will host a first round matchup on Saturday, February 22nd. The Red Hawks (22-2, 16-1 NJAC) avenged an earlier loss to Kean this season as the Cougars handed MSU their first NJAC loss in two years back on January 18th at Harwood Arena.
There was little offense from either team in the first seven minutes of the game, leading to an eight-all tie with 12:48 to go in the half. The Red Hawks then found a groove and scored the next 14 straight points over the next five minutes to take a lead they would not relinquish. Tobie provided seven points in the run. MSU headed into the break with a double-digit advantage, 37-23
Sophomore Jazmine Davis (pictured left) collected 13 points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action while Tobie tallied 17 points and eight rebounds, playing all 20 minutes.
The Cougars had some momentum early, trimming the lead back to single-digits early in the second half as senior Simone Smith cut the deficit down to seven (37-30) with a lay-in at the 18:38 mark. Montclair State then paced the remainder of the period, pushing their lead out to as many as 35 in the waning seconds.
Davis finished with a team-high 21 points. Nicosia Henry added a double-double for MSU (10 points, 12 rebounds) as the Red Hawks have already earned the top seed in the NJAC tournament, with a first-round bye.
Kean closes out the regular season on Wednesday when they host Rutgers-Newark on Senior Night at 6 p.m.
