FAIRFIELD, Conn. ? The fifth-seeded Monmouth University women's basketball team gave top-seeded Sacred Heart all it could handle before ultimately falling, 64-54 in the Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinals on Sunday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center.
The Hawks, which upset fourth-seeded Quinnipiac in the quarterfinals on Saturday, end the 2008-09 season with an 18-13 record, tying them for the most wins in a season since 1987-88.
The host Pioneers jumped out to an 8-0 lead with less than two minutes gone by after triples from Alisa Apo, the NEC Player of the Year, and senior Stephanie Ryan. Senior Marisa Jimenez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) broke through for Monmouth's first hoop with a pull up jumper, but Sacred Heart took a 12-4 lead into the first media timeout. The two team's then cranked up the defensive pressure with neither squad scoring over the next four minutes as the Pioneers held on to their 12-4 lead with 11:10 remaining in the first half.
MU held Sacred Heart scoreless for nine minutes during the middle of the first half, cutting its lead to 14-10 with 6:41 left before halftime after back-to-back buckets from seniors LaKia Barber (Clinton, Md./Gywnn Park) and Jimenez. Four points from SHU's All-Rookie team member Callan Taylor pushed the Pioneer's lead to 18-12 with 3:50 remaining in the first half.
The Hawks closed out the half on a 7-3 scoring run, slicing the top seed's halftime advantage to 21-19 after freshman guard Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) drilled a left wing three-pointer at the first half buzzer. Barber and Jimenez each paced MU in the first 20 minutes with six points apiece. The Hawks shot 31% (9-for-29), but held SHU to 31.8% (7-for-22) field goal shooting in the opening half and forced nine Pioneer's turnovers. Kaitlin Sowinski led the way for SHU with nine points in the first half.
The 21 points MU held Sacred Heart to in the first half is its lowest scoring output in a half since Rhode Island limited the Pioneers to 15 points in the second half on December 20. It was also SHU's lowest scoring first half of the season.
Sacred Heart opened the second half much in the same way they began the game, going on an 8-0 scoring run to open up a 29-21 lead with 16:05 left after four quick points from Sowinski. The Hawks again battled back, just like they did in the first half, and cut the Pioneer's advantage to 34-31 with 10:57 left in the game after a three-pointer from freshman Alexis Scott (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) and consecutive hoops from senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech), the all-conference forward's first two field goals of the contest.
After Monmouth cut the Pioneer's lead to two on a couple of occasions, Sacred Heart stretched its advantage to nine before Scott hit a pull up jumper to make it 45-38 with 7:14 left in the game. SHU took its biggest lead of the game at the time at 52-40 after Khalia Cain drilled a two with 4:37 to go. Jimenez converted an offensive rebound and put back to cut the Pioneer's lead back into single digits at 58-49 with 49.5 seconds left in the game.
MU was paced by Barber's 15 points while Jimenez and Scott each scored 12 points apiece. The Hawks shot 33.9% from the field for the game, and SHU was led by Sowinski's game-high 24 points. Apo added 16 and Taylor contributed 14.
Sacred Heart now advances to host the NEC Finals against Saint Francis University, who defeated Central Connecticut State in the second semifinal, on Sunday, March 15.
