LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team dropped its second straight contest to begin the 2009 season, falling 56-41 at nonconference, in-state foe Rider on Thursday evening at Alumni Gym.
The Hawks led the contest at halftime 28-26 before the Broncs heated up offensively in the second half, shooting 54.5% (12-of-22) over the final 20 minutes. MU was led offensively by freshman Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) who scored a career-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds. Fellow newcomer Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z./Marian College) added 10 points and a team-high seven boards, with three steals, while sophomore Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) added a career-high five steals.
MU shot 37.9% (11-of-29) in the first half as they built a two-point lead at intermission. Rider outscored the young Hawks, who started five freshmen and one sophomore, 30-13 in the second half, limiting Monmouth to 4-for-32 shooting (12.5%) in the second period.
Freshman Carly Thibault (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) added eight points off the bench, including two three-pointers for the second straight game. MU shot 3-for-14 from beyond three-point and hit 8-of-15 free throws in the contest.
The Monmouth freshmen (Abby Martin, Womack, Rooney, Adriana Allen, Thibault) scored 40 of the team's 41 points, which represents 97.5% of the total. MU's other point also came from a newcomer, junior Brookdale Community College transfer Chanel Gomez (Perth Amboy, N.J./Perth Amboy).
Rooney opened up scoring for MU with a 12-foot jumper off the right wing to break the 5-0 Rider advantage at 17:40 in the first half. The Broncs held a six-point lead with 11:38 left in the first half when Womack broke a four minute scoring drought for the Hawks, hitting a 14-foot jump shot off of a high screen to make it 12-8. At the 4:27 mark of the opening half, Womack put-back a Rooney missed free throw to cut the lead to one, 18-17, sparking a 7-4 run by the Hawks. Thibault knocked down back-to-back three-pointers with a minute left to give Monmouth their first lead of the game, 26-22, right before the half.
Rider went into a 2-3 zone early in the second half causing the Hawks to go into a four minute scoring drought before Womack broke the streak with a long jumper at the top of the key to cut into the Broncs' lead, 36-30. On the Hawks third basket of the second half, Rooney converted on a traditional three-point play with 1:38 to play to cut into the Broncs lead, 54-38.
Rider, who outrebounded MU 48-34, shot 47.8% (22-for-46) as a team, including 4-for-11 from three-point range and 8-of-18 from the charity stripe. Cintella Spotwood led three Broncs in double figures with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Tammy Meyers contributed 14 points and a game-high six assists while Amanda Sepulveda added 11 points.
Monmouth returns to action on Sunday when they host Pacific at 3:00 pm in the MAC.
