HACKENSACK, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated in-state Northeast Conference rival Fairleigh Dickinson, 68-63 on Thursday evening at Stratis Arena. The Hawks improve to 11-11 overall with the win, and 6-5 in the league, while the Knights fall to 6-16 and 2-9 in conference play.
"This was a tough, hard-fought road win tonight," said head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley. "We did not play our best game tonight, but our group did enough to get a win. That's been the theme with this team, they find ways to win games."
MU was paced offensively by freshman Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia), who led a balanced attack with 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the floor. Newcomer Adriana Allen (Ajax, Ont. /Pickering) added 11 points, her second straight double-digit effort, while Carly Thibault (East Lyme, Conn. /East Lyme) and Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College) each added nine points.
The Hawks raced out to an 11-4 lead, paced by seven early points from Martin, including a three-point play with 17:18 left in the first half. MU continued its hot shooting in the first half, taking a 24-15 lead with 7:42 left before halftime, paced by five points, including a triple, from Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin).
Fairleigh Dickinson countered with a 12-0 scoring run, including consecutive hoops from Jasmyra Saunders, to take a 27-24 lead with 2:12 left in the opening half. Thibault banked in a long jumper and hit a pair of free throws as Monmouth took a 30-27 lead into halftime. Martin paced Monmouth with nine first half points, on 4-of-4 shooting, while Singer added five. The Hawks shot 57.9% from the floor in the first half, limiting Fairleigh Dickinson to 32.4% shooting.
Monmouth stretched its lead to 39-33 after Rooney drilled a jumper in the left corner with 14:30 remaining in the game. After the Hawks took their largest lead of the game at 43-33, FDU's Alyssa Mayrose scored back-to-back baskets to cut the advantage to six with 10:04 left in the second half.
After the Knights cut Monmouth's lead to a single basket, Rooney drove the lane and converted a traditional three-point play to push the Hawks lead to 55-50 with four minutes left in the contest.
Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) and Chanel Gomez (Perth Amboy, N.J. /Perth Amboy) each contributed eight points, with Womack adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Hawks shot 46.7% for the game, while holding the Knights to 39.7% shooting from the field.
FDU was paced by Mariyah Laury, the league's leading scorer, with 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Saunders added 17 points for FDU, which lost for the eighth time in the last nine games.
Monmouth and FDU renew acquaintances on Saturday when the two teams meet at the Multipurpose Activity Center at 3:00 pm.
