WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? In a rematch of last season's NEC semifinal, the Monmouth women's basketball team fell to visiting Sacred Heart 61-58 in Boylan Gym, on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks fall to 1-7 and 0-1 in the NEC, while Sacred Heart improves to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Monmouth, which trailed by as many as nine points in the second half, had a three-point attempt by Jennifer Bender fall short at the buzzer, while Sacred Heart, which was in the bonus for the final 13 minutes of the second half, ended up 22-38 from the foul line in the game.
After Sacred Heart started with the opening basket, Monmouth registered the next five points to claim a 5-2 edge at 18:15, when Bender dropped in a layup. SHU's Maggie Cosgrove drilled a three-pointer at the top of the key to knot the score at 5-5, before Nyiamah Ware's trifecta put the Hawks back on top 10-7 with 16:03 remaining.
The Pioneers rattled off a 6-2 run over the next 3:30 to reclaim the lead, as Kaitlin Sowinski's three-point play gave SHU a 13-12 edge at 12:42. After Veronica Randolph's jumper gave Monmouth a 14-13 lead, Sowinski registered two straight hoops to give the Pioneers a 17-14 cushion with 9:19 left.
The Hawks knotted the score at 17-17 when Marisa Jimenez drained a wing three, but the Pionners, powered by two Stephanie Ryan baskets, a Cosgrove trey and a Khalia Cain layup, corralled a 26-17 advantage with 5:55 showing.
Monmouth's 4:30 scoring draught ended when Randolph connected on a reverse layup at 4:30, while Bender's layuo pulled the Hawks within 26-23 with 3:06 remaining until the break. Rachel Ferdinand, who sat most of the first half with two early fouls, connected on a free throw with 2:23 remaining to make the score 28-26, but Alisa Apo's three-point play at 2:07, inflated Sacred Heart's cushion to 31-26.
Apo connected on two free throws with five ticks remaining to give the Pioneers a 34-26 edge, before Randolph's wing three-pointer at the buzzer trimmed the edge to 34-29 at the break.
The Pioneers increased their lead to seven points out of the break, 38-31, when Cain connected on a free throw at 19:04, but the Hawks scored six of the next seven points to pull within 39-37 at 16:37 on Bender's layup.
Apo's back-to-back baskets with 11:59 remaining tied the Pioneers' largest lead of the game, as SHU led 47-38, before Randolph connected on her second three of the contest to make the score 47-41 with 11:33 left, snapping a 3:10 scoreless draught for the Hawks.
Bender's consecutive layups made the tally 47-45 with 10:32 showing, and Ferdinand capped a 12-3 run with 6:26 left with a layup to knot the score at 50-50. Sacred Heart answered with the next seven points, four coming from the free throw line, to reclaim a 57-50 edge with 3:02 left.
Bender's layup and Randoph's bank with 2:12 left pulled the Hawks within 57-54. After forcing a shot clock violation, Ware's corner jumper made the score 57-56 with 1:17 showing, and after a SHU missed jump shot, Monmouth called timeout with 36.6 ticks left.
The Hawks then turned the ball over with 17.7 seconds left and were whistled for an intentional foul, and Cain connected on one free throw, pushing the advantage to 58-56. Forced to foul again, Lisa Moray stepped to the line and hit both free throws, giving the Pioneers a four-point edge with 10.6 ticks left.
Brooke McElroy's jumper pulled Monmouth within 60-58 with 2.3 seconds left, but Cosgrove's free throw with 1.4 seconds sealed the 61-58 win for the Pioneeers, as three of the last four meetings between the two schools have been decided by five points or less.
Monmouth, which was 6-of-9 from the free throw line, had three players in double-figures, led by Bender's season-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Randolph finished with 12 points, while Ferdinand registered her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pioneers had two players record double-doubles, as Sowinski netted a team-high 15 points, while grabbing 10 boards. Ryan posted 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Apo and Cain netted 12 and 10 points respectively.
Monmouth returns to action on Sunday, December 16, when the Hawks host Drexel in non-conference action in Boylan Gym. Tip is set for 2:00 p.m.
