WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team fell to Sacred Heart 77-65 in Northeast Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Boylan Gym. The Hawks drop to 5-8 and 0-3 in the conference, while SHU improves to 6-7 and 3-0 in the league.
In the game, Monmouth senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) became the 14th Hawk in program history to record her 1,000 point when she connected on a jumper with 2:50 left in the game. She came into the game with 982 career points and now has 1,002 after scoring a team-high 20 in the contest.
Monmouth took an early 9-8 lead after Alexis Scott (Somerset, N.J./Franklin), who scored seven straight points for the Hawks, canned a jumper, but Sacred Heart's Alisa Apo put the Pioneers in front with a three-pointer on their ensuing possession. The Pioneers built up a brief four point lead before Bender converted a jump shot from the top of the key to cut it to 17-15 at the 11:03 mark of the opening half.
SHU built up their biggest advantage of the first half at 28-22 after Apo dished off to Stephanie Ryan for the baseline jumper with 6:59 left in the first half, but Monmouth would cut the lead to one at 29-28 after Marbely Montas (Cranford, N.J./Elizabeth) drilled a jumper two minutes later.
The contest went into halftime tied at 37-37 after Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) banked into a long two-pointer with 43 seconds left. MU shot 59.1% in the game's first 20 minutes, their best shooting first half since they shot 56.5% in the opening half against the University of Texas-El Paso. Scott paced three Hawks in double figures in the first half with 11 points, hitting all five of her field goals. Bender and Canady each contributed 10 first half points as the Hawks logged assists on 11 of their 13 first half field goals. Alisa Apo led SHU with 14 points in the first half as the Pioneers shot 58.3% from the floor.
The Pioneers steadily opened up a second-half lead that began when Apo drilled a three-pointer to put SHU up 50-44 with 13:30 left in the game. After two LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) free throws made the score 54-48 two minutes later, the Pioneers would extend their lead to 12 at 63-51 after a layup from Kaitlin Sowinski at the 7:02 mark of the second half. The visitor's would maintain their cushion, which would grow to as many as 14 points with 3:08 left in the game.
Bender led Monmouth with 20 points and a season-best four assists. Scott scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with three steals. Canady added 12 points and three assists while Barber chipped in with 10 points. The Hawks shot 45.1% for the game, but Sacred Heart connected on 55.3% from the floor. Apo led the way with 23 points for the Pioneers, while Sowinski added 22.
Monmouth's 65 points scored against Sacred Heart is their most in a game since last season's NEC Quarterfinals, when sixth-seeded MU upset the #3 Pioneers 75-70 on March 8.
Monmouth returns to action on Wednesday, January 7 when they host Central Connecticut State at 12:00 p.m.
