WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team was defeated by Brown University, 75-71 in the first game of the Second Annual Hawk Holiday Classic presented by Staybridge Suites of Eatontown on Thursday at the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Hawks fall to 8-3 on the season, while the Bears improve to 4-7.
MU will now play in the consolation game of the tournament against Binghamton on Friday at 12:00 pm, admission is free to day two of the tournament.
Monmouth, which was down by as many as 17 points with 15:59 left in the game, cut Brown's lead to 68-64 after junior Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) converted a traditional three-point play with just less than three minutes to go in the game.
Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) then knocked down a three to cut the Bear's lead to 70-69 with 1:30 to go, but Monmouth would get no closer and eventually fall.
The Hawks took an early 10-8 lead over Brown after Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) drilled a short jumper with 14:44 left in the first half. The Bears took their first lead and extended it to 22-16 after Lindsay Steele pulled down an offensive rebound and converted the put back with 8:15 left before the half.
Womack buried a mid-range jumper to cut the visitor's lead to 26-23 with just less than three minutes remaining in the opening half. Brown took a 30-27 lead into intermission, paced by eight points from Hannah Passafuime. Womack led MU with 13 points in the first 20 minutes.
Sheila Dixon converted a fast-break lay-in to push BU's lead to 44-31 with 16:39, its biggest lead of the game up to that point. Womack drilled a corner triple to cut Brown's lead to 51-40 with 13:18 left in the game. Back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin) trimmed the Bears' lead to 56-48 with 9:31 remaining.
Singer blocked a fast-break lay-up by Brown's Lauren Clarke, and then started a fast break that ended when she assisted on Martin's lay-in to cut BU's lead to 63-57 with just less than seven minutes to go in the contest.
The Hawks were paced by Womack's 21 points, while Canady and Martin added 18 points. Martin's 18 points mark a career-high, while her 12 rebounds now gives her six career double-doubles.
