Women's Basketball | 7/3/2014 1:26:00 PM
Montclair, NJ – Montclair State basketball forward
Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) has received plenty of honors in her career and added another one recently as her No. 22 jersey currently hangs in the "Ring of Honor" at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The "Ring of Honor" displays over 100 jerseys including high school and collegiate All-Americans from the 2013-14 season. Tobie is the first Montclair State player to receive this prestigious honor.
Tobie, who was named to the WBCA's 10-member All-America team as well as First-Team All-America by D3Hoops.com, led Montclair State to another outstanding season during 2013-14. The Red Hawks went 28-3 and captured their second consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference championship in addition to winning the league's regular-season title with MSU going 17-1 in conference play. Montclair also made its second straight NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship appearance and reached the Elite 8 of the tournament for the first time in program history.
Tobie, the NJAC, D3Hoops.com Atlantic Region and Met Basketball Writers Player of the Year, led the Red Hawks in every category this season. She averaged 18.7 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 50.4 percent from the field 78.8 percent at the foul line. The 6-1 Tobie also handed out a team-best 113 assists and posted 77 blocked shots and 73 steals. She became the first MSU player to score 500 points in a season since Kim Wilson in 1991 and finished with 579 points, the fifth-highest single-season total and the most since Tracey Brown recorded 585 during the 1982-83 campaign.
Tobie, a three-time First-Team All-NJAC selection, was the first player in program history to score 500 points, grab 250 rebounds and record 100 assists, 70 blocks and 70 steals in a season. She became the 18th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark in her career and is one of only five players in program history to surpass the 1,500-point mark as she currently has 1,506.
Tobie led the NJAC in blocks and ranked in the Top 10 in seven other categories, including scoring (2nd), rebounding (7th), field goal percentage (3rd), assists (3rd), free-throw percentage (4th), steals (10th) and assist-turnover ratio (2nd). She scored in double-digits in 28 of MSU's 31 contests this season and had 12 double-double performances. Tobie scored 20 or more points 13 times and topped the 30-point mark on three occasions, including a career-best 33 versus Kean on February 15. A four-time NJAC Player of the Week selection, Tobie had 21 games of five more assists.
Tobie opened the season being named the Most Valuable Player of the Gwynedd Mercy Tip-Off Tournament after scoring 20 points in the title-game victory and three days later reached the 1,000-point mark in a 71-67 win over William Paterson at home. She had 22 points and eight rebounds in a win over NCAA participant Moravian College in December and collected 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and five blocks as Montclair downed TCNJ 56-46 in a matchup of conference unbeatens at the time. Tobie scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half as the Red Hawks overcame Ramapo in early February and topped the 30-point mark for the first time at Richard Stockton on February 8. After scoring 23 points versus Kean in the NJAC semifinals, Tobie had 30 points, 18 coming in the second half and overtime as Montclair rallied back to defeat Cabrini in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She had 27 points in the Sectional semifinal versus Scranton and closed out her season with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds versus eventual national champion FDU-Florham.
