NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team ended the 2007 calendar year with an 82-57 loss to Iona at the Hynes Athletic Center on Friday afternoon. The Hawks drop their record to 1-9 on the season while Iona improves to 5-6.
After Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) hit a left wing three-point field goal for the game's first made shot 15 seconds into the contest, Iona ripped off an 11-0 run before Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) hit a free throw at the 17:30 mark. The Gael's lead extended to 15-4 at the 15:57 mark of the first half with Thazina Cook and Anna McLean each scoring four points during the host's scoring spurt.
The Hawks then scored nine unanswered points led by Brooke McElroy (Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale), who drilled a three-pointer and handed out an assist to Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth) to cut the lead to 15-13 with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Gaels worked their lead back up to 25-17 following a pair of Tiara Headen and Anda Ivkovic buckets at the 8:40 mark of the first half.
The Hawks deficit remained eight points at the 3:50 mark of the first half as Iona held a 31-23 lead after a Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) baseline lay up for Monmouth.
Iona went into halftime hot, taking a 42-27 lead into the locker room, led by Ivkovic's 11 points before intermission. MU was led in the first half by Jimenez's eight points, while McElroy added seven and Randolph scored five points and pulled down five rebounds.
The Gaels went on a 10-2 run out of the halftime break to take a 52-29 lead at the 15:11 mark of the second half. Iona's swelled reached it's biggest of the game at 68-40 with 7:47 left in the game after Ivkovic drilled a three-pointer, and MU answered as Brianne Edwards (Bloomfield, Conn./Suffield) knocked down her first shot of the season. Edwards was making her first appearance of the year after recovering from a knee injury.
The Hawks were led by Bender's season-high 18 points, including shooting 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Jimenez added a season-high 14, while McElroy added 10 points.
Iona shot 41.7 % for the game, while MU connected on 31.0 % of their shots. The Hawks committed 27 turnovers, while Iona turned it over 16 times, compared to 20 assists for the Gaels.
The 82 points Monmouth allowed to Iona was the most scored by an opponent on the Hawks this season to date.
Monmouth returns to action in 2008 on Wednesday, January 2 when they host in-state rival Princeton at 7:00 p.m.
