FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team fell, 60-45 at defending Northeast Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champion Sacred Heart on Monday evening at the William H. Pitt Center. The Hawks drop their second straight league game to fall to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the NEC, while the Pioneers improve to 9-4 and 2-0 in conference play.
Monmouth was paced by freshman Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) and junior Chanel Gomez (Perth Amboy, N.J. /Perth Amboy [Brookdale]) who scored 10 points apiece in the game. Gomez added nine rebounds, just missing out on her second double-double of the season.
Womack scored the game's first three points for Monmouth, but Sacred Heart went on an 11-0 scoring run to take an early eight-point lead. The Hawks cut the Pioneers' lead to four at 11-7 when Womack drilled a baseline jumper with 14:53 left in the first half.
SHU extended its lead to 15-7 after an Alexis Campbell jumper with 12:40 to go, and the hosts built their first half lead even further at 23-15 after MU went over eight minutes without a field goal. The Pioneers took a 28-18 lead into halftime, paced by reigning NEC Player of the Year Alisa Apo's nine points. Womack and Adriana Allen (Ajax, Ont. /Pickering) each paced MU with four points apiece in the first half.
Sacred Heart continued to hold its double-digit lead at 38-24 with 11:44 remaining the game following a left-wing three from Maggie Cosgrove. Callan Taylor connected on a three-pointer to boost the Pioneers' advantage to 44-26 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) added eight points and seven rebounds, while Allen contributed eight points and a pair of steals. The Hawks shot 33.3% (16-for-48) from the floor, including 2-for-10 from three-point range. MU outrebounded SHU 37-28 in the game, and outscored SHU on second chance points 17-4.
The Pioneers shot 46.9% (23-of-49) from the field, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. Callan paced four Pioneers in double figures with a game-high 16 points. Cosgrove contributed 14 points while Apo added 12 and Lindsey Gibson scored 10 points.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, January 7 when they host Central Connecticut State at 12:00 pm.
