CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team fell 73-45 to nationally-ranked #15/17 Virginia on Thursday evening at John Paul Jones Arena. The Hawks have now dropped five straight and are now 4-6, while the Cavaliers won their third in a row to improve to 8-2.
After Virginia scored the first four points of the game, Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) scored back-to-back MU buckets to tie the game and LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) added a put back, but Monmouth trailed 9-6 at the 14:14 mark of the first half. An 11-0 UVA run pushed their lead to fourteen before six straight MU points from Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) cut the advantage to 24-12 around the 10-minute mark.
UVA continued to run, outscoring the Blue & White 13-2 over the next five minutes to take a 37-14 lead with four minutes to go. Bender scored consecutive MU baskets, one with a jump hook and the other from just inside three-point range at the top of the key, but the Hawks still trailed 41-20 with 43 seconds left before halftime.
The Cavaliers, who led by as many as 23, took a 41-21 lead into halftime after shooting 55.9% from the floor in the first half. Monica Wright had 19 first half points while Lyndra Littles, who missed the fall semester for academic reasons, had 11 points in the opening half. The Hawks shot 32.3% in the first 20 minutes and were paced by Bender's 10 points and four rebounds. Jimenez hit four of her five first half shots for eight points for Monmouth.
Virginia outscored Monmouth 10-2 over the first 3:39 of the second half to push their cushion to 51-23 after eight straight points from Chelsea Shine. The Cavaliers extended their lead to 57-25 with 13:44 left in the game.
A Barber jumper from the left wing and a Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth) free throw cut the lead to 61-40 under the seven-minute mark.
Bender led the way for Monmouth with 16 points and eight rebounds while Jimenez joined her in double figures with 11 points. UVA shot 50% for the game while MU shot 29.4%. MU did outrebound the Cavaliers 39-33 in the game. The Hawks did connect on 15-of-21 free throws, with freshman Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) hitting 5-of-6. The Hawks committed 26 turnovers which led to 26 Virginia points. Wright led the way for UVA with 28 points with Littles adding 17.
The 73 points Virginia scored are the most allowed by the Hawks in a game so far this season. MU came into the game allowing a Northeast Conference-best 51.3 points per game, which is also good enough for 11th best in the nation.
The contest between the Hawks and Cavaliers featured two of the winningest coaches in women's basketball as MU's Stephanie V. Gaitley (411 career wins) and UVA's Debbie Ryan (683 career wins) have combined to win a total of 1,094 collegiate games in their respective careers.
The Hawks return to action on Monday, December 29 when they host Howard at 7:00 p.m.
