WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated Northeast Conference foe Wagner, 69-56 on Saturday afternoon at the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Hawks, winners of four straight, improve to 14-11 overall and 9-5 in the league, while the Seahawks fall to 9-16 and 6-8 in the conference.
Freshman Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) led three Hawks in double-figures with 18 points, adding three assists. Junior Chanel Gomez (Perth Amboy, N.J. /Perth Amboy [Brookdale]) scored 12 points, her straight game scoring 10+ points, adding seven boards and two steals.
Freshman Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College) scored 12 points, collecting five rebounds and dishing out four dimes, while sophomore Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) added seven points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Gomez scored back-to-back baskets in the paint to put the Hawks up 9-4 with 13:16 left in the first half. Freshmen Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin) and Rooney connected on consecutive three-pointers to push Monmouth's first half advantage to 22-12 with 5:46 showing.
MU held the Seahawks scoreless for almost four minutes during the latter stages of the open half, outscoring Wagner 10-0 during that span to take a 24-12 lead with four and a half minutes left. Freshman Adriana Allen (Ajax, Ont. /Pickering) drilled a triple to push the Blue and White's lead to 31-16 with 2:39 to go before intermission.
The Hawks took a 34-22 lead into halftime, paced by 10 points and six rebounds from Gomez. Canady contributed four first half assists for the Hawks, whose bench outscored Wagner's 18-2 in the opening half.
Freshman Carly Thibault (East Lyme, Conn. /East Lyme) knocked down her second triple of the game, this one from the left corner in front of Monmouth's bench off of a Rooney kick out, to give the Hawks a 46-31 lead with 13:15 left in the contest.
Wagner went on an 11-2 scoring run to trim MU's lead to 48-42 after a Megan Mahoney three-pointer with just less than nine minutes to go in regulation. Womack and Rooney countered for Monmouth with back-to-back triples to push the host's lead back to double digits at 60-48 around the four-minute mark
Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) added seven points, five rebounds and a career-high two blocks for the Hawks. Allen also scored seven points, dishing out two assists, while Thibault added six points on 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. The Hawks shot 40.7% from the field, including 7-for-17 from three-point range and 18-of-24 from the foul line. Monmouth's bench outscored the Seahawks' reserves, 25-10.
Wagner was paced by Ashley Olsen's double-double, as she scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Mahoney chipped in with 15 points for the Seahawks, who shot 42.1% in the game.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, February 18 when it visits Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. for a 5:00 pm tip with St. Francis College.
