BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team claimed their first league win of the season with a 63-56 win over St. Francis College in Northeast Conference play on Monday evening at Peter Aquilone Court. Monmouth snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 6-9 and 1-4 in the league while the Terriers fall to 2-12 and 1-4 in the NEC.
After leading by as many as 15-points in the first half, MU saw their advantage cut to five with 4:30 left in the game. With the shot clock winding down, freshman Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) hit a tear-drop jumper to push Monmouth's lead back to 55-46 with three minutes to go in the game. The Terriers cut MU's lead to four at 60-56 with 50.4 seconds left, but a free throw and steal from Canady and two free throws from Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth)helped ice the win for Monmouth.
Monmouth senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) scored four straight points and drew a charge on SFC's Kristin Leitheuser to pace the Hawks to an early 9-6 lead with 14:00 left in the first half. Freshman Taylor Smith (Plantation, Fla./American Heritage) then pulled down her second offensive in her first three minutes of action and converted a traditional three-point play on the put back to give MU a 14-7 lead with 11:47 left in the first half.
Behind three early assists from freshman guard Alexis Scott (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) and stifling defense, MU maintained their advantage at 20-11 with just less than eight minutes to go in the opening half. The Hawks doubled up SFC at 26-13 three minutes later after a pair of Bender free throws and after Montas found LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) for a fast-break lay in, the Hawks pushed their lead to 15.
With Monmouth holding a 15-point lead at 28-13 with 3:32 left in the first half, Bender had outscored the Terriers by herself 14-13 to that point. St. Francis College cut the Monmouth lead to 28-21 with an 8-0 scoring run keyed by a three-pointer from Kara Ayers, the leading scorer in the NEC, with 1:30 left in the first half. Two Barber free throws with .2 seconds left in the first half gave Monmouth a 32-23 intermission lead.
MU shot 36.4% in the first half, led by Bender's 14 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double since December 6 at Quinnipiac, as well as two blocks. Canady scored seven first half points while Barber added six. Smith scored three points and pulled down four rebounds in the first 20 minutes as the Hawks outrebounded SFC 27-11 in the first half. Ayers paced the Terriers with eight first half points while Leithauser scored six.
St. Francis College went on a 7-2 scoring run to open the second half to cut Monmouth's lead to 34-30 with 16:24 left in the game after a Leithauser three-pointer. Barber quelled the scoring run with back-to-back jumpers from the right and left elbow, respectively, to push the Hawks' lead back to eight on the following two possessions.
Scott increased Monmouth's lead to 45-36 after a free throw with 10:09 left in the game, but Cecelia Herald answered with a Terrier bucket to cut the lead back to seven. After St. Francis College cut Monmouth's lead to 46-42, Canady drilled a right wing three-pointer to push their lead back to seven with just less than seven minutes left in the game.
Bender fouled out, but not before pacing three Hawks in double figures with 22 points and tying a season-high with 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Canady added a career-high 14 points and seven rebounds, tying a career-high with three steals. Barber chipped in with 14 points and four rebounds while Montas scored four points, pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists. Scott added five points, five caroms and three assists while Smith scored four points and set a new career-high with six boards.
MU outrebounded St. Francis College 47-27, including 23-9 on the offensive glass. The Hawks shot 36.4% for the game while SFC shot 38%. Ayers led the Terriers with a game-high 27 points.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, January 17 when they host Quinnipiac at 3:00 p.m.
