WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated Sacred Heart, 65-58 in Northeast Conference action to wrap up its 2009-10 regular season on Saturday afternoon at the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Hawks end the regular season with a 16-13 overall record and an 11-7 record in league, while the Pioneers fall to 19-10 and 12-6 in the NEC.
The Hawks, who led by as many as 11 in the first half, battled back and forth with the Pioneers in the second half before pulling away for the win. The victory marked MU's first over Sacred Heart in the last nine regular season meetings between the two schools.
Freshman Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) led the Hawks with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, adding six rebounds and three steals. Freshman Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College) added 11 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, and a team-high six assists. Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks.
MU took an early 10-5 lead over the Pioneers, paced by a pair of early three-pointers from Rooney and Womack, with 14:46 left in the first half. Freshman Carly Thibault (East Lyme, Conn. /East Lyme), Womack and Singer all buried triples to increase Monmouth's lead to 23-12 around the seven-minute mark.
The Pioneers navigated there way on a 10-0 scoring run, capped by a three-pointer from Alisa Apo, to cut MU's lead to 23-22 with 4:03 to go in the opening half. The Hawks took a slim 29-26 lead into intermission, paced by 10 points from Womack on 4-of-5 shooting. SHU, which turned Monmouth's 11 first half turnovers into 16 points, was led by Apo's 13 opening half points.
Sacred Heart came out for the second half and took a 33-32 lead, its first advantage of the contest, after Callan Taylor drilled a three-pointer with 17:19 left in the game. Rooney connected on another trey, this time to give Monmouth a two-point lead with seven minutes left in regulation, and Thibault followed by banking a long jumper on the next possession to give Monmouth a 46-42 advantage.
Womack came up with a steal near half court and converted the transition lay in, giving the Hawks a 54-47 lead around the three-minute mark.
Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin) contributed nine points, hitting all six of her free throw attempts, adding five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) contributed five points and a career-high 11 rebounds, while Thibault added seven points.
Apo led SHU with 23 points, while Kiley Evans added 13 and Taylor contributed 12 points.
The Hawks, who are the fourth seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament, return to action on Saturday, March 6 when it takes on fifth-seeded and host Saint Francis University at 2:30 pm in the quarterfinals in Loretto, Pa.
