FAIRFIELD, Conn. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team played tough, but ultimately fell 64-55 at Sacred Heart Monday evening in Northeast Conference play at the William H. Pitt Center.
The loss drops Monmouth to 7-16 and 4-8 in the NEC, while Sacred Heart improves to 16-8 and 11-2 in the league.
The Hawks took an early 8-5 lead at the 14:25 mark of the first half behind consecutive Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) buckets. Monmouth extended their lead to 18-10 at the 9:27 mark of the opening half after back-to-back three-pointers by senior Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach), the second after Brianne Edwards (Bloomfield, Conn./Suffield) pump-faked on her own shot and made the extra pass into the left corner for the trey. Through the game's first 10+ minutes, the Hawks had forced 10 Sacred Heart turnovers and turned them into 11 points.
The Pioneers came back and cut the Hawk's advantage to one at 20-19 four minutes later after six straight points from their leading scorer, Kaitlin Sowinski. The 6-4 junior center made two free throws before depositing two baskets in a row. Sacred Heart's Alisa Apo, a Freehold, N.J. native, tied the game for a brief moment at 20-20 after a free throw at the 4:39 mark of the first half.
The Hawks a took slim 26-25 lead into the halftime locker room, paced by eight points from Randolph. MU's bench was responsible for 14 of the team's points during the first half. The 25 points Monmouth held the Pioneers to at halftime was the lowest point total they allowed during a first half since January 21, when they gave up 20 points to Central Connecticut State. The Hawks also forced the visitor's into a pair of shot clock violations during the first half.
Sacred Heart raced out to a 36-30 lead with just over five minutes gone by in the second half, led by a three-pointer from the top of the key by Maggie Cosgrove and a pull-up jumper by Apo. A quick 7-0 Monmouth run, capped off by a traditional three-point play by Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth), gave the Hawks a one point lead at 37-36 with 12:47 left in the game. The game went back and forth and the lead changed hands until it settled at a 43-43 tie after a LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) left baseline jumper with 9:27 left in the game.
The Pioneers took the game's largest lead at 57-47 after a free throw and field goal from Sowinski at the 4:45 mark of the second half and a right wing three-pointer and jumper from Apo.
Monmouth was led by three players with 10 points apiece as Bender, Randolph and Barber all scored in double figures. Bender added eight rebounds in the contest. Monmouth shot 38.5 % for the game, while SHU shot 42.9 %.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, February 16 when they travel to Staten Island, N.Y. for a 4:00 p.m. showdown with Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center.
