NEW YORK (April 14, 2015) – Melissa Tobie of Montclair State has been named the All-Met Division III women's college basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season by the Met Basketball Writers Assn. Karin Harvey of Montclair State and Kevin Clifford of Mount St. Vincent were selected as co-Coaches of the Year.
 
The rest of the All-Met First Team: Janitza Aquino, Montclair State; Megan Dawe, NYU; Kaitlyn Astel, Stevens Tech; Kyra Dayon, FDU Florham; Jade Howard, Rutgers Newark.

The Third Team: Alyson Caiazzo, Manhattanville; Karrin Walker, Lehman; Jah-Leah Ellis, College of New Rochelle; Caitlin Drakeley, Vassar; Megan Campbell, Brooklyn.

The All-Met players and coaches in men's and women's Divisions I, II and III were honored on April 22 at the 82nd NIT/MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner at the Westchester Marriott, Tarrytown, NY.

Player of the Year: Melissa Tobie, Montclair State (photo left)

A 6-1 senior forward from Elizabeth, NJ, Tobie became the first player in NJAC history to be named conference player of the year in three straight seasons. She led the Red Hawks (31-2) to the NCAA Final Four this year, averaging 16.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg to go with 111 assists, 103 steals and 77 blocks. She shot 46.3% from the floor, including 34.4% from 3-point range.

Tobie was fifth in the nation with 20 double-doubles, and became the 15th player in Division III history to surpass 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, finishing her career with 2,041 points --- second-leading scorer all-time at MSU --- and 1,003 career rebounds. The only player this season to be named All-Met four times, she was selected for the Second Team in 2012, First Team in 2013 and was Player of the Year and a First Team pick in 2014.

  

Co-Coach of the Year: Karin Harvey, Montclair State (photo right)                                          
     
After taking Montclair State to the NCAA Elite Eight stage last season, Harvey --- who was named an All-Met Coach of the Year for the second time (2015, 2013) and NJAC coach of the year for the third time (2015, 2013, 2009) --- guided the Red Hawks (31-2) to a berth in the tournament’s Final Four in March. After losing the semifinal game, MSU defeated Tufts 56-48 to annex the third place trophy.

Montclair State this season produced the most victories in program history and a third consecutive NJAC championship. The Red Hawks led the conference in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense and were second in rebounding margin, and placed 15th in the nation in scoring defense (51.2 ppg), 17th in scoring margin (17.1 ppg) and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense. The winningest coach in program history, Harvey has a 174-56 record over eight seasons at the MSU helm.

In his third season at Mount St. Vincent, Clifford guided the Dolphins (22-6) to the most wins in program history, their first 20-win season since 2007-08 and to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. CMSV, which led the Skyline Conference in scoring with 76.5 ppg, captured its first Skyline tournament title, defeating defending champ Sage in the semifinals and then winning the championship on the road at top-seeded Farmingdale. Formerly an assistant on the men’s team at CCNY and then head women’s basketball coach at City College before taking the reins in Riverdale. Clifford lives in Middle Village, NY. His overall record at Mount St. Vincent is 47-34.

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