WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Monmouth sophomore Brooke McElroy (Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) had a career-high 15 points to lead the Hawks (3-12, 1-4 NEC) to their first conference win of the season, besting Wagner 66-58 at home on Monday night.
Down by five early in the second half, Monmouth launched a 13-2 run over a four-minute span to take a five point lead. The Hawks finished off the Seahawks by being aggressive on the boards and hitting late shots to clinch the eight point victory.
“I thought once we picked up the defensive intensity with the press it allowed us some easy baskets and got us back in the game,” said MU head coach Michele Baxter. “I know (Jennifer) Bender came up with some key steals down the stretch and the defense played hard once we got the lead. I think our defense carried us during the last 12 minutes of the game.”
Veronica Randolph's (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) three-pointer at the 17:12 mark of the second half cut the Wagner lead to just one, 34-33, but Seahawk Ali Ridge knocked down a pair of free throws to restore a three point advantage for the visitors. The Hawks struggled on the offensive end of the board over the next three minutes as Wagner built a 41-36 lead. Back by eight, Monmouth junior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) converted a traditional three point play to slice the Hawk deficit to five. After Wagner was hit with a walking call, McElroy took a pass from Brianne Edwards (Bloomfield, Conn./Suffield) on the wing and hit a three pointer. MU forced a Seahawk turnover and LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) hit a layup to tie the game at 44-44 with 10:46 to play.
Barber gave the Hawks the lead on their next possession but Wagner's Andrea Reed tied the game up at the halfway point (46-46). McElroy answered promptly with her ninth point of the contest, coming off another three pointer from the left baseline. With Monmouth owning a 51-46 lead, Seahawk guard Casey Stokes hit her third three pointer of the game with just over seven minutes to play, which was followed up with a Ridge layup tying the game at 51-51. With Wagner closing to within one, Barber hit a pair of free throws to give MU a three point edge.
With 3:44 to go Ridge hit a layup to get WC within one but Montas hit a layup off a fast break, restoring a 57-54 Hawk lead. A running layup by McElroy with 2:00 showing gave MU a 59-56 lead which was followed up by a pair of Bender free throws to push the Monmouth lead to five. Wagner could not make up the deficit as the Hawks were diligent on the glass and hit key free throws down the stretch to clinch the 66-58 victory.
The teams played evenly through five minutes, with Wagner owning a slight 8-7 advantage with 14:55 left on the board. Monmouth traded buckets with the Seahawks over the next four minutes before McElroy gave the Hawks a 12-10 lead with a three pointer. MU's Edwards gave the Hawks a 17-14 lead with a trey of her own from the wing and minutes later Ware extended that lead on a jumper. Wagner slowly overcame the seven point MU lead, eventually tying the game up at 24-24 on a Stokes jumper from the right side with 2:08 remaining in the first half. Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth) regained the lead for MU on a layup but Stokes answered with a shot from downtown, giving Wagner a 30-28 advantage heading into halftime.
McElroy's 15 points led all players, while she added eight boards to her season totals. Barber finished with a season-high 14 points, including hitting eight of 11 shots from the charity stripe. She also chipped in with eight rebounds. Edwards finished with eight points and four assists while Bender had nine points, six rebounds and a trio of steals.
Reed and Stokes led Wagner with 14 points each, while Ridge finished with ninie points and nine rebounds.
Monmouth held a 44-37 advantage on the glass but shot just 36 percent from the floor (and 18-of-32 from the line), compared to Wagner's 40.4 shooting percentage.
The Hawks will look for their first back-to-back wins on Saturday, January 19, when they travel to St. Francis (N.Y.) at 2 p.m.
