LORETTO, Pa. - The fourth-seeded Monmouth University women's basketball team fell to fifth-seeded and host Saint Francis University, 61-49 in the Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Arena. The Hawks end the season with a 16-14 overall record, while the Red Flash, which advances to tomorrow's first semifinal against top-seeded Robert Morris, improve to 15-14.
"I could not be more proud of this team," said Monmouth head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley. "All the credit goes to Saint Francis, they played very well today."
The game featured four ties and a pair of lead changes as the Red Flash built a lead as big as 14 with 46 seconds left in the contest. SFU outscored Monmouth after halftime, 37-25 after the contest was tied at 24 all at halftime.
Freshman Abby Martin (Maplewood, N.J. /Columbia) led the way for Monmouth, logging her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Adriana Allen (Ajax, Ont. /Pickering) added eight points and five boards for the Hawks.
The Hawks took an early two-point lead after freshman Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College) buried a three-pointer from the left corner and assisted on fellow newcomer Martin's basket with 16:45 remaining in the first half. The Red Flash then struck for a 12-0 scoring run to take a 14-7 lead two minutes later after Allison Daly connected on a three-pointer.
MU then cut the lead to a point, countering with a quick 6-0 run of its own, punctuated by a triple from freshman Carly Thibault (East Lyme, Conn. /East Lyme) with 12:15 showing before the half. Allen drove into the lane and converted a lay-in and junior Chanel Gomez (Perth Aboy, N.J. /Perth Amboy) got free in the paint for a score to tie the game 19-19 with seven minutes left in the opening half.
Trailing 24-19, the Hawks ended the first half with five unanswered points to knot the contest at the break. Martin led the Hawks, who shot 31% in the first half, with six points and seven rebounds. Daly paced the Red Flash with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor.
Saint Francis scored the second half's first five points en route to taking a 35-28 lead with 14:06 left in the game. The Red Flash outscored the Blue and White 18-6 over the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 42-30 lead. MU cut the lower seeded Red Flash's lead back into single digits at 47-38 after a Martin free throw.
NEC Rookie of the Year Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa. /Cardinal O'Hara) was limited to six points, all in the second half, for Monmouth. Rooney also contributed six points, adding seven rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) added five points and eight rebounds. Thibault contributed five points off the bench for the Hawks, who shot 32.8% for the game and outrebounded Saint Francis 48-37.
SFU was paced by Britney Hodges' game-high 24 points. Daly and Samantha Leach each contributed 11 for the Red Flash, which shot 39% for the contest and outscored MU 22-6 off of turnovers.
