BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team fell at Long Island University, 68-55 in Northeast Conference play at the Wellness Center on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks, who had their five-game winning streak snapped, fall to 15-12 and 10-6 in the NEC, while the Blackbirds improve to 18-9 and 12-4 in league play.
LIU led the contest from its outset, building an advantage as big as 20 with 6:17 remaining in the second half.
Freshman Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) led MU with 16 points, adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals. MU newcomer Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) contributed 10 points and six boards.
LIU raced out to an early 14-4 lead with 13:45 left in the first half, paced by eight points from forward Chelsi Johnson, including a pair of triples. The Blackbirds doubled MU up at the 11:21 mark of the opening half, 20-10, behind a strip steal and lay-in from Heidi Mothershead.
After Long Island built a 23-10 lead, the Hawks rattled off seven unanswered points to draw to within six with 7:18 left in the first half after freshman Adriana Allen (Ajax, Ont. /Pickering) connected on a 12-foot jumper from straight away. The Blackbirds led 30-19 after Martin grabbed an offensive rebound and made the stick back, equaling the same point total that St. Francis College scored on the Hawks on Thursday.
Long Island took a 32-24 lead into halftime, paced by 17 first half points from Johnson. LIU shot 56% from the field in the opening half, compared to 37% for Monmouth. Martin led MU with six first half points and three boards.
The Blackbirds extended their lead to 42-26 five minutes into the second half after Ashley Palmer converted a fast break lay-in to cap a 10-2 scoring run. Womack scored five straight points to get MU back to within 42-32 after a three-pointer with 12:35 left in the game. LIU's advantage swelled to 60-42 with 6:36 left in the contest after a Johnson lay in.
Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) added seven points and five rebounds, while a trio of Hawks, Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College), Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin) and Chanel Gomez (Perth Amboy, N.J. /Perth Amboy [Brookdale]) added five points apiece.
LIU was paced by Johnson's game-high 27 points, while Palmer added 14. Long Island shot 54.7% from the floor, while the Hawks connected on 41.2% of their field goals. LIU outscored Monmouth in the paint, 44-26, while turning MU's 15 turnovers into 18 points.
The game marked the return of Monmouth head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley to the Brooklyn campus, where she was the head coach from 2002-2008, leading LIU to a pair of 20-win seasons and an appearance in the WNIT during the 2006-07 season. Between the two sets of student-athlete on Monmouth and Long Island, Gaitley recruited 18 of the players in this afternoon's game.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, February 25 when it visits Hamden, Conn. for a 5:00 pm tip with Quinnipiac.
