WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team claimed its second straight Northeast Conference win on Saturday afternoon, defeating Quinnipiac 60-48 at Boylan Gym. The Hawks improve to 7-9 and 2-4 in the NEC, while the Bobcats fall to 10-5 and 4-2 in the league. After a back and forth first 20 minutes, Monmouth led for the entire second half en route to the win.
“I think we're peaking at the right time,” said Monmouth head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley. “The team is starting to buy in to the idea that our defense and rebounding is essential to beat teams the level of Quinnipiac.”
With the contest tied at 9-9 early, senior LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) converted a traditional three-point play to give Monmouth an early three-point advantage with 11:00 to go in the first half. Freshman Alexis Scott (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) increased MU's advantage to 18-13 when she canned a jumper five minutes later.
Both defenses began to assert themselves as the game's tempo slowed. Quinnipiac's Erin Kerner cut the Hawks advantage to a single possession when her baseline jumper made it 20-17 with 2:30 left before the half. Monmouth's Scott pushed the host's lead to six at 23-17 when she drilled a right wing three-pointer two possessions later with less than a minute left in the first half.
Monmouth took that six-point advantage into the halftime locker room with them. Senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech), who was presented with a commemorative basketball for scoring her 1,000th point against Sacred Heart back on January 3 before the game, led the Hawks with nine first half points and six rebounds. Barber added seven points and Scott scored six points. Freshman point guard Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) had three first half assists compared to only one turnover while playing all 20 minutes. Kerner led QU with eight points in the first half. Monmouth shot 32.1% in the first 20 minutes, while holding the Bobcats to 26.7% field goal shooting.
After QU cut Monmouth's lead to five, Scott came down and hit a left-handed scoop lay in to increase the lead to 33-26 around the 14:00 mark of the second half. The Hawks saw their lead increase to 12, their largest of the game to that point, after Bender connected on a whirling lefty lay in and senior Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) hit a baseline three in to make it 40-28 with 10:20 to go in the game. The Hawks maintained their double-figure lead at 44-33 after Canady scored her first basket of the game on an offensive rebound and putback with just less than six minutes to go in the game.
The senior trio of Barber, Bender and Jimenez contributed a combined 44 points and 18 rebounds as Bender led the way with 22 points and eight boards. Barber added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, Jimenez scored nine points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals and Scott added eight points.
MU limited Quinnipiac to 35.3% field goal shooting for the game and 17 points below their average of 65.1 ppg. QU was led by Kerner's 20 points. The Hawks shot 38.3%, including 47.4% for the second half. MU outrebounded the Bobcats 36-29 in the game.
Monmouth returns to action on Monday, January 19 when they visit Fairleigh Dickinson for a 3:00 p.m. tip.
