WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- The Monmouth University women's basketball team (2-12, 0-4 NEC) rallied from as much as 15 down against Quinnipiac (12-2, 4-0) to take a late lead, but couldn't hold off the Bobcats, eventually falling 66-62 in the final minute.
Quinnipiac used a 14-2 run during the middle of the second half to take a 15 point lead (its largest of the night) but Monmouth launched a run of its own to put a scare into the unbeaten (in conference play) Bobcats. MU outscored Quinnipiac 12-2 from the 7:23 to the 2:06 mark to take its first lead since late in the first half, but couldn't finish QU off as the visitors came away with the four point win.
Montas hit Monmouth's first shot of the second half, putting the Hawks back 33-27 with just over a minute expired off the clock. Monmouth scored five straight, including a three pointer guard Nyaimah Ware (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) to cut the Hawk deficit to 35-34 with 16:26 showing on the board. Quinnipiac's Monique Lee answered with a layup but the Hawks' defense forced a turnover which was followed up by a Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) layup. LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gywnn Park) got the Hawks to within five (43-38) with a 19 foot jumper but the Bobcats answered with four straight points.
With the Bobcat lead increasing to 15 points, MU's Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) scored five straight points, including a traditional three-point play, to cut the lead to 55-45 with just over seven minutes to play. Bender got her squad to within eight at the 5:12 mark with a left-handed layup with an assist from McElroy. After a defensive stop, Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) scored her first points of the night and the Hawks were down just six with five minutes to play. Randolph then went crazy on the glass, earning three rebounds, two of which ended in MU baskets.
Monmouth found itself back 57-55 with 3:19 to play when Brooke McElroy (Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) grabbed a loose ball and sent the ball up the floor to Randolph, who was fouled with 2:41 left in the game. The senior her free throws to tie the game and the defense forced a poor shot by the Bobcats to get back on the offensive end. On the next possession McElroy was fouled on a successful layup, then hit the ensuing free throw and the Hawks had their first lead (60-57) since the first half.
A trio of Bobcat free throws coupled with a Monmouth turnover got the game tied back at 60-60 with just over a minute to play. Bender got the ball in deep when she was fouled on a turn-around jumper, giving the Hawks the lead and the junior a shot from the charity stripe. Quinnipiac tied the game up on their next possession, which was earned after rebounding Bender's free throw. QU's Rooney hit a pair of free throws to give the visitors a 64-62 advantage with 10 seconds to play. Monmouth got the ball on the Bobcat end of the floor and called timeout with 6.7 seconds left in regulation. MU turned the ball over on the inbounds play and Quinnipiac held on to win 66-62.
After Monmouth took a quick lead on a Bender shot on the opening possession, the Bobcats netted back-to-back three pointers from the hand of Mandy Pennewell to take their first lead of the game. The two teams battled back and forth over the first five minutes with the visitors holding a 12-7 lead. Jimenez cut the Quinnipiac lead to 18-15 after hitting a three on the wing. On the next possession, the junior guard grabbed a rebound and the led the Hawks down the floor, with Kudirka hitting a layup to slice the lead to one. MU had two separate chances to take the lead but converted just one of four from the charity stripe.
With 3:08 left in the half McElroy nailed an off-balance layup to give MU its first lead since the opening possession of the game, 24-22. After Bender hit a free throws to extend the Hawk lead to three, Quinnipiacs Duperron hit a jumper to cut the Monmouth lead to one with two minutes to play in the first frame. Quinnipiac closed out the first half on a 8-1 run to take a 30-25 lead into the break.
Bender led all scorers with 18 points, gathering seven rebounds on the afternoon. Randolph led the Hawks on the glass with 10 (tying a season high), while Barber finished with 13 points and six rebounds. McElroy (three blocks) and Jimenez each had eight points in the loss.
Erin Kerner led the Bobcats with 15 points, including 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. Pennewell had 12 points and Rooney finished with 11 in the win. Duperron led Quinnipiac on the glass with 10 rebounds.
QU held a 14-17 advantage in turnovers but shot just 30 percent from the floor.
The Hawks are back on the hardwood on Monday night, when they host Wagner at 7 p.m. in Boylan Gym.
