WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Monmouth University's women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point first half deficit to take a late lead before eventually dropping a 60-56 Northeast Conference contest in overtime to Farleigh Dickinson on Monday in Boylan Gym.
Monmouth, who fell to 4-4 (0-2 NEC) on the season, shot just 12.5 percent in the first half as Fairleigh Dickinson built a 26-9 lead. In the second half MU shot 54.5 percent, but went just 2-10 in overtime. MU dominated the glass 59-33 in the contest but shot just 56% from the charity stripe. The Knights improved to 2-5 on the year with the win.
Deadlocked at 49-49, Fairleigh Dickinson's Maryah Laury hit a three pointer from the corner early in overtime but Monmouth continued to own the glass, as it had all game, retying the game on a LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) free throw with 3:00 to play. Senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) hit a pair of free throws to take a two point lead but Laurey answered with an off-balanced jumpshot to tie the game at 54-54. Four points from the charity stripe by Laury and Erica McKeithan gave FDU a 58-54 lead with 57.3 to play before Barber drove and hit a layup to get MU within two. McKeithan hit two more free throws to seal it for the Knights, leaving under 25 seconds for Monmouth to work with. The Hawks couldn't get a shot to drop in the final seconds, losing their third straight contest.
Senior Marisa Jiminez's (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) three-pointer with 2:18 remaining gave the Hawks their first lead of the game, after falling behind by 17 points going into halftime. FDU's Christy Altamarino hit the first end of a one-and-one with under two minutes to play to knot the game at 47-47, with MU grabbing the rebound on the second. On the next Hawk possession, guard Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth) fired a 17-footer with one second left on the shot clock that regained the lead for MU with 1:03 to play. After Knight Jordan Sykes tied the game up with 36 seconds left, Hawk coach Stephanie V. Gaitley called a timeout to set up the next Hawk possession. FDU's defense forced a shot clock violation with 3.7 seconds left and the two teams headed to overtime when Maryah Laurey's shot hit the backboard.
Despite trailing by 17 at the half, the Hawks tallied the first five points of the second frame. Monmouth's halftime adjustments continued to work as the Hawks clawed back into the game, trailing by just nine points after a 10-2 run jumped started the first five minutes of play. Freshman Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) tallied her second bucket of the half, but FDU answered by outscoring the Hawks 7-2 over the next three minutes and Gaitley's Hawks found themselves back 35-23 with 11:52 to play.
Back to back buckets by senior Barber, including a fast break layup, cut the Knight deficit to eight with 10:40 left in regulation. MU closed to seven twice, but each time Fairleigh Dickinson's Mariyah Laury answered with a mid-range jumper to keep the lead to nine. A 13 foot Jiminez got MU to within six and Canady's three pointer got MU to within two. With 5:30 to play in regulation, FDU's Jordan Sykes nailed a three from the wing to give the Knight's a five point edge. MU posted three consecutive points
Fairleigh Dickinson held a 10-7 edge halfway through the first frame as the Hawks struggled to get the offense going early, shooting under 20 percent. Senior Laura Forbes (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) hit a jumper for the Hawks, cutting the Knight lead to 14-9 with 7:48 on the clock. FDU expanded its lead to 20-9 over the next five minutes as the cold streak continued for the Hawk offense and the FDU defense did a good job of getting loose balls. The Monmouth defense held FDU to three straight scoreless possessions but could not convert on the other end as FDU took a commanding 26-9 lead into the break. The nine point first half effort was the lowest scored by the Hawks in program history. The previous record was 13 points in a 1992 game against Long Island.
Barber led MU with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Canady chipped in 12 from the guard position. Bender had 12 rebounds on the night but scored just seven points in the loss.
Laury led all scorers with 18 points, while Sykes finished with 17 for the Knights.
MU will look to break their three-game losing skid on the road against Princeton on Friday, Dec. 12.
