WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team pulled out a late win over Long Island, 59-57 in Northeast Conference play on Monday evening in Boylan Gym. Senior Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) made a strong move to the basket and finished with the left hand to give MU a 58-57 lead with 34 seconds left in the game. Monmouth, winners of five straight, improve to 10-9 and 5-4 with the win while LIU falls to 6-13 and 1-7 in the league.
Long Island took a 57-54 lead after Chelsi Johnson hit a jumper in the lane with 1:38 left in the contest. Monmouth senior LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gywnn Park) responded with a jumper from the foul line to draw MU within one, then the Hawks forced a turnover on the ensuing Blackbirds possession, which set up Jimenez's heroics.
Senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) tied the game at 4-4 early for Monmouth with a turnaround jump-hook in the lane at the 14:46 mark of the first half. Both teams struggled from the field to begin the contest, each going an identical 2-11 from the field by the 11:54 mark. MU started to heat up after Barber canned a long jumper from the left wing to give the Hawks a 10-4 lead with 10:04 left before halftime.
The Hawks maintained their six point cushion at 16-10 with 7:15 left in the first half after a Barber jumper from the left baseline. Connie James tied the game at 18-18 with 2:15 left before halftime for Long Island after swishing home a three-pointer from the left corner, right in front of MU's bench. After a three-point play from LIU's Ashley Palmer tied the game at 21-21, Monmouth freshman Alexis Scott (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) canned consecutive three-pointers, the second one from beyond the men's line, to give the Hawks a 27-21 lead; MU then took that six-point lead into intermission.
MU was paced by Barber and Scott, who each scored eight points in the first half. The Hawks shot 30.4% from the floor in the first half while the Blackbirds, who were led by Chelsi Johnson's 10 points, shot 34.6% in the first half. The Hawks shot 11-11 from the free throw line in the first half, extending their streak to 27 straight made free throws from the previous two games.
After MU freshman Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop Mc Namara) knocked down two three's early in the second half, the Blackbirds made a run to tie the score at 37-37 after Jade Brown knocked down a straight-away three with 13:25 left in the game. LIU then took their first lead since they held a 2-0 advantage with 17:23 left in the first half after Brown canned a right wing three to put them up 47-46 with 10:21 left in the game.
A back and forth contest then ensued as the teams traded the lead for the next six minutes with Bender knotting the game at 52-52 after two free throws with just over four minutes left.
The Hawks were paced by Bender, who led four in double figures with 14 points. Barber added 13 points and three steals and Canady chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds. Jimenez added 10 points and a season-high six assists to go along with three steals. The Hawks shot 39.5% for the game, but connected on 45.5% (5-11) from three-point range and hit 20-25 free throws. LIU shot 40% for the game and was paced by Palmer's 20 and Johnson's double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The contest marked “Take A Kid To The Game” Night in memory of Harry Vanderslice, father of Monmouth head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley. All proceeds from tonight's contest went to benefit the Harry Vanderslice Memorial Fund. The date of tonight's game, January 26, marks the 10th anniversary of his passing.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, January 31 when they visit defending NEC Tournament Champion Robert Morris at 4:00 p.m.
