WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Central Connecticut State scored 24 first half points on 16 Monmouth turnovers to build a 15-point lead en route to a 64?48 victory over the Hawks Monday night at Boylan Gym.
MU, which falls to 9-6 in conference play with the loss and 16-10 overall, committed 23 turnovers combined with 28 player fouls in the loss. Central improved to 6-21 overall and 4-12 in the NEC with the victory.
Trailing by 15 points to start the second half, Monmouth needed to play mistake free basketball to earn their 10th Northeast Conference victory of the season. The Hawks and Blue Devils traded baskets over the first few minutes but going into the first media timeout, CCSU held a 48-31 advantage. Monmouth could not get their shots to fall despite tightening down on defense and with 7:47 left in regulation the Hawks found themselves back by 15. A Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) three pointer closed the gap by one, but Monmouth could not mount an offensive run after that. The Hawks got to within 12 with 1:00 to play but the lead proved too much for Monmouth to overcome as CCSU secured the 64?48 victory.
The Blue Devils raced out to an 8-0 lead before MU senior Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) hit a three pointer to get the Blue and White on the board. The Hawks' cut the lead to three but after eight minutes of play, Central led 15-7. Behind 11 Monmouth miscues, the Blue Devil lead ballooned to 13 points with just under half the time remaining in the frame, with 12 points coming from Gabriella Guegbelet. Rachel Ferdinand (Clifton, N.J./Voorhees) stopped a 5:54 Monmouth scoring drought with her first-career three-pointer, but Central had mounted a 15-0 run between MU points. MU's Lakia Barber (Clifton, Md./Gwynn Park) got the Hawks to within 11 after converting a traditional three-point play, capping a 9-0 Monmouth run. Central closed out the first half outscoring MU 9-3, securing a 40-25 lead at the break.
Guegbelet had a double-double, with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Brittney Dixon had 13 points and Heidi Warczinsky chipped in with 12 points.
Barber finished with 17 points to lead the Hawks, two shy of her career high. Brianne Edwards (Bloomfield, Conn./Suffield) had eight points as three MU players fouled out in the contest.
Monmouth will continue to battle for a NEC Tournament home game on Wednesday, when they host Fairleigh Dickinson at home at 7 p.m.
