CORAL GABLES, Fla. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team fell to Butler 63-52 on Friday in the opening game of the 2007 University of Miami Thanksgiving Tournament at the Bank United Center. The loss drops the Hawks record to 0-4 on the season, while Butler improves to 3-1.
Monmouth was led by Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) who scored a season-high 17 points off the bench, including drilling three three-point field goals. Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) added her first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Butler jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Marbely Montas (Elizabeth, N.J./Cranford) converted a driving lay up and Bender finished a reverse lay in at the 15:46 mark of the first half. The Hawks cut the lead to a single point at 11-10 at the 12:15 mark of the first half after Nyaimah Ware (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) plucked a rebound out of the air and triggered a 2-on-1 fast break where she fed Randolph for a lay in for the Hawks.
Monmouth then went on an 12-3 scoring run to take a 24-21 lead at the 3:04 mark of the opening half keyed by five points from Rachel Ferdinand (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) and a left corner three-point field goal from Brooke McElroy (Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale). Bender logged a pair of turn around shots in the lane during the run for the Blue and White as well. Candyce Brown tied the game up at 24-24 with a left corner three-pointer for Butler with one minute remaining before halftime, and the two teams went into the half tied at 26-26. Both teams shot 33 % from the floor in the first half.
Butler came out of the halftime locker room and went on a 13-0 scoring run to take a 39-26 lead at the 16:41 mark of the second half, with Lade Akande converting a conventional three-point play and a right handed jump hook right and Tara Miller draining a pair of three-pointers for the Bulldogs. LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) ended the MU draught with a pair of free throws at the 16:44 mark of the second half.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 54-38 at the 7:15 mark of the second half as Candace Jones scored eight points for Butler during the span. A Montas transition lay in and Bender bucket for the Hawks cut the Butler lead back to single digits at 56-47 with 3:47 left in the game, but that was the closet MU would get the rest of the way.
McElroy added eight points and six rebounds for Monmouth, while Ware pulled down seven rebounds and dished out a career-high six assists.
Monmouth returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, November 24 when they play at 5:00 p.m. against Fordham in the consolation game at the University of Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. Fordham fell to tournament host Miami 57-40 in the second game of the day.
