JERSEY CITY, N.J. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated Saint Peter's 59-47 in overtime in their 2008-09 season opener at the Yanitelli Center on Saturday evening. The win marked MU head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley's first triumph on the Monmouth sideline, and also marked her first win as a head coach against the Peahens in Jersey City.
After two SPC free throws made the score 44-42 with 15.2 seconds left, MU freshman Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) hit a driving lay-in with 4.4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. From there, senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) scored the first six points of the extra session to put MU up 50-44 with 2:22 left in overtime. After a Peahen three, senior Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) responded with a pull-up jumper to put the Hawks up 52-47 less than a minute later, and Bender hit a floater to increase the lead to 54-47 and put MU in front for good. The Hawks outscored Saint Peter's 15-3 in overtime.
“I am really proud of how the kids stayed together tonight through all the runs,” said Gaitley. “We did a good job tonight against a very athletic and physical Saint Peter's team.”
Bender finished with a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds while LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) added 12 points and seven rebounds. Jimenez chipped in with 10 points and five boards, while Canady had seven points and 10 rebounds in her first collegiate game. The Hawks hit 27-of-35 free throws and limited SPC to 26% shooting for the game.
With the Hawks down 42-41 with one minute to go in the second half, Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth) came up with a steal at half court and the Hawks were able to tie the game with a Jimenez free throw on the ensuing possession, which set the stage for Canady's heroics.
After the Peahens jumped in front 6-0, MU scored the next five consecutive points to cut the lead to a single point paced by a Bender conventional three-point play with 12:29 left in the first half.
Monmouth took their first lead in the Gaitley Era when Bender hit a pair of free throws to give the Hawks a 7-6 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half. The Hawks held Saint Peter's scoreless for nearly 10 minutes as they held the Peahens without a point from 17:05 mark of the opening half until the 7:38 mark, building an 11-6 lead. The Peahens went on a run of their own to take an 18-15 lead at the 3:25 mark.
MU was able to regain the lead with a pair of free throws from freshman Alexis Scott (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) and pushed their lead to 21-18 after Jimenez found Bender on a no-look pass with just over a minute to go before halftime. The Hawks took a 23-18 lead into halftime after Barber hit a driving lay-in with under a minute left.
Bender led the way with nine points and six rebounds in the first half, while Barber added eight points and three boards in the first period. The Hawks only shot 28.6% from the floor in the first half, but did convert on 11-of-12 free throws, including 6-of-7 from Barber.
Canady hit her first career field goal, a three-pointer from the left wing with 16:55 left in the game, to give the Hawks a 28-24 lead after halftime. After the teams went back and forth down the stretch in the second half, MU was down three with less than five minutes to go until Jimenez drilled a three-pointer from the right wing with 4:40 left in the game to knot the contest at 38-38.
Monmouth, who began the season with a win on the road for the first time since 1998 when they defeated Fordham 94-71, returns to action on Wednesday, November 19 when they host Iona in their home opener at Boylan Gym at 7:00 p.m.
