WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated Mount St. Mary's, 67-51 in Northeast Conference play on Thursday evening at the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Hawks, winners of three straight contests in the league, improve to 13-11 overall and 8-5 in the league, while the Mount falls to 8-15 and 4-9 in the conference.
"We really wanted to emphasize post defense and rebounding tonight, and I thought we did a good job in both of those areas," said Monmouth Head Coach Stephanie V. Gaitley. "Also, anytime you have four players score in double figures, you're going to be tough to beat because the other team isn't sure who they can key on."
Freshman Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) led the Hawks, who led the game from the from the 16:17 mark of the first half through the final horn, with 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting and seven rebounds. The newcomer scored 16 points after halftime, including nine in a row early in the half when the Hawks seized control.
Junior Chanel Gomez (Perth Amboy, N.J. /Perth Amboy [Brookdale]) logged her second double-double of the season in the contest with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College) contributed a career-best 13 points, adding seven boards, five assists and two steals. Sophomore Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc for the Hawks.
Gomez corralled an offensive rebound and converted the put-back to give Monmouth a 10-4 lead with 13:49 left in the first half. The Hawks turned up the defense early, forcing Mount into a 1-of-11 shooting slump over the first 11:04 of the contest, taking a 12-4 lead during that span.
Rooney drove and drilled a bank shot from the left block to push MU's advantage to 19-9 with 4:59 to go before halftime. Monmouth outscored Mount 18-2 in the paint en route to taking a 23-11 lead with 3:16 left in the opening half.
Monmouth took a 29-15 lead into intermission, its fewest points allowed in the first half of a game this season since Howard scored 13 on December 29. Gomez almost logged a double-double in the first half alone, pacing the Hawks with eight points and nine rebounds. Rooney added four points, six rebounds and three assists in the first half, where MU shot 44.4% while limiting MSM to 21.7% shooting.
MU extended its lead to 38-18 after freshman Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin) found Womack underneath for a lay-in with 17:06 remaining in the contest. MSM's Hassanah Oliver hit a pull-up jumper to draw the Mountaineers to 42-28 with 12:45 left in the second half.
Rooney helped Monmouth push its lead back to 20 at 58-38 after a fade away bank shot from the right elbow with less than seven minutes remaining.
Freshman Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) added eight points and seven boards for MU, while Singer contributed a career-high five assists. The Hawks shot 45.5% from the floor, while outrebounding the Mount 44-27.
MSM was paced by Sydney Henderson's 15 points. The visitor's shot 36.5% from the field, including 48.3% in the second half.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Wagner at 3:00 pm.
