HAMDEN, Conn. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team claimed their biggest win of the season as they defeated first-place Quinnipiac 80-66 in Northeast Conference action on Monday evening at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. The win simultaneously snapped Monmouth's seven-game losing streak and Quinnipiac's seven-game winning streak, and also marked the Bobcats first home loss of the season in twelve contests.
The Hawks improve to 2-0 all-time in the new TD Banknorth Sports Center with the win after topping Quinnipiac 63-58 in last season's NEC Quarterfinals.
Monmouth jumped out in front of Quinnipiac 8-2 at the 14:26 mark of the first half behind a jumper and end-to-end lay in from Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth). The Hawks held QU scoreless for a six-plus minute stretch in the first half as the Bobcats broke the drought with a Kathleen Neyens basket at the 13:12 mark, but Monmouth still led 10-4 at that point.
The two teams traded buckets before Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) canned a jumper from the left elbow at the 8:45 mark of the first half to give the Hawks a 17-12 advantage. The Monmouth lead held at 23-17 after Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the putback at the 4:50 mark of the opening half. Rachel Ferdinand (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) then grabbed a defensive rebound and keyed a fast break with an assist to Jimenez, canned her second career three-pointer and connected on a long two-pointer on three consecutive possessions to boost the MU lead to 28-17 at the with 2:50 left before halftime.
The Hawks ended the half with a flurry as Veronica Randolph (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach) came away with a loose ball near half court and drilled a three-pointer from the right wing as time expired to give MU a 35-22 halftime lead. The Hawks shot 62.5 % from the floor in the first half and outrebounded Quinnipiac by an 18-9 margin. Bender and Jimenez led the way for Monmouth with six points apiece in the first 20 minutes. The 22 points Quinnipiac scored is the lowest total MU has allowed in the first half since they let up 20 points to Central Connecticut State back on January 21.
Quinnipiac came out of the halftime locker room and connected on three three-pointers in the second half's first six minutes, including two from Mandy Pennewell, to cut the MU lead to 44-39 with 13:41 left in the game. The Bobcats outscored Monmouth 17-9 in the first six and a half minutes of the second half. The Monmouth lead swelled back to 53-39 after Jimenez buried a three-pointer from the right corner and hit two free throws and Randolph canned a triple of her own with 11:11 left in the game. After two LaKia Barber free throws, the MU lead sat at 55-39 with 9:41 left in the game, its largest advantage of the evening.
After Neyenes hit a jumper in transition to cut the MU lead to 10 points with just over four minutes left in the game, Nyaimah Ware (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) responded with a jumper from the left corner as the shot clock expired to give the Hawks a 66-54 lead with 3:40 left in the game. After Jimenez missed two free throws, Quinnipiac knocked the ball out of bounds and on the ensuing inbounds play, she slipped behind the defense and deposited a lay up to give the Hawks a 72-60 lead with a minute and a half remaining.
The win improves Monmouth's record to 8-19 and 5-11 in the NEC, while Quinnipiac falls to 22-4 and 14-2 in the league.
Jimenez paced five Hawks in double figures with a season-high 21 points, while Bender added 16 points and seven rebounds. Randolph scored 11 while Ware and Barber added 10 apiece. The Hawks shot 20-25 from the charity stripe and hit 6-of-11 from three-point range.
Quinnipiac was led by Erin Kerner's 28-point effort.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, March 1 when they travel to Emmitsburg, Md. for a 3:00 p.m. tip with Mount St. Mary's.
