WEST LONG BRANCH?
Despite owning a double digit first half lead, Monmouth University's women's basketball team could not defeat Sacred Heart on Friday night, dropping a 59-54 decision at home.
The comeback was the largest second half comeback of the year for Sacred Heart, who stays in the hunt for a top seed in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament. Monmouth, who came into the game in fourth place, falls to 17-11 (10-7 NEC) with the loss while the Pioneers improve to 19-9 (14-3) with the victory.
After building a 13 point lead in the first half MU's offense did not let off the gas, as the Hawks owned a 43-32 lead with 15 minutes left in regulation. Amanda Pape's two free throws with 13:40 left in the second half took the Monmouth margin below 10 for the first time since the 5:01 mark of the first half. Sacred Heart's Lisa Moray hit a three pointer to slice the lead to four and minutes later Moray hit another from downtown to give the Pioneers their first lead since the opening minutes. The visitor lead didn't last for long as Rachel Feridinand (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) hit a runner in the lane to knot the game at 45-45. Ferdinand hit another basket on the next Hawk posession regaining the lead for the Blue & White with 7:56 left in the game.
With 5:00 showing on the game clock, MU's defense forced Sacred Heart into their second shot clock violation of the game which was followed up by a Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) jumper to give the Hawks a two point edge. With a one point lead and just over two and a half minutes to go, Sacred Heart's Jasmine Walker earned a trip to the charity stripe, hitting her first but missing the second. Lindsey Zegowitz (Damascus, Md./Damascus) came down on the next Hawk posession and tied the game up at 54-54 but the Pioneers held onto a two point lead with 1:03 left in the game. Veronica Randolph's three pointer with 21 seconds left fell short as the Hawks ran out of time, eventually dropping the game,
Senior Charisse Johnson (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg) started the scoring up with a jumper to tie the game at 2-2 in her last regular season home game. After the second-place Pioneers built a four point lead the Hawks tore off seven unanswered points capped off by a Johnson three pointer with the shot clock running out. Monmouth piled on another two baskets and the Blue & White held a 13-6 lead with 11:45 left in the frame. A Mary Rush free throw, 20 seconds later, marked the first Pioneer points since the 17:04 mark but Brianne Edwards (Bloomfield, Conn./Suffield Academy) answered on the next MU posession with a three pointer from the corner. The momentum shifted in Sacred Heart's favor as the visitors outscored Monmouth 7-2 over the next few minutes but the Hawks still owned a 20-15 lead. Zegowitz hit a layup at the 4:13 mark and MU found itself up 29-17 before Edwards hit her second from long range to give the Hawkes a 15 point cushion. The first half ended with Monmouth owning a 35-22 lead.
The Hawks shot 40 percent in the game but earned just five opportunities from the free throw line, compared to Sacred Heart's 19 chances. The Pioneers shot almost 50 percent in the second half after being held to 28 percent shooting in the first half.
Zegowitz led the Hawks in scoring with nine points, while Ferdinand's eight points ties a season hight. Randolph led MU with nine rebounds and Edwards' seven helpers ties a caeer-best.
Pape paced the Pioneers with 21 points with Walker grabbing 14 rebounds and 18 points. Pape also had a double-double, grabbing 10 boards while Moray finished with 11 points.
The Hawks will have one more chance to secure a home game in the NEC Tournament on February 27, 2007 when they travel to face instate rival Fairleigh Dickinson at 5 p.m.
