NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team fell at Central Connecticut State University, 48-45 in Northeast Conference play on Monday evening at Detrick Gymnasium. Neither team led by more than six points in the game as the Hawks (13-6, 5-3) had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Down 45-42 with just less than a minute left, the Hawks forced a Central (11-7, 3-5 NEC) turnover and Chevannah Paalvast (Auckland, N.Z. /Massey) was fouled going to the basket. The sophomore missed the first free throw, but converted the second to cut CCSU's lead to two points.
CCSU's Kerrianne Dugan was then fouled and made both foul shots, giving the host's a 47-43 lead. MU's Carly Thibault (East Lyme, Conn. /East Lyme) came down and canned a long two-point field goal to again cut the Blue Devils' lead to a deuce at 47-45. Dugan missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but Alexis Canady's (Forestville, Md. /Bishop McNamara) shot was blocked by Jessica Babe, solidifying Central's win.
Erin Rooney (Christchurch, N.Z. /Marian College) led the way for MU with nine points, while Canady added eight for the Hawks. Adriana Allen (Ajax, Ont. /Pickering) chipped in with seven points off the bench for Monmouth.
Gabby Singer (Harrisburg, Pa. /Central Dauphin) came off the bench for the Hawks and drilled a three-pointer in the right corner to cut CCSU's early advantage to 8-6 around the 14:00 mark. MU went on a quick 7-0 scoring run as Rooney made a pair of free throws and drained a deep triple and Singer made a jumper in transition to give the Hawks a 19-16 lead with 5:47 left in the first half.
After Central took a brief lead, Allen rattled off four quick points, including a spot-up jumper, to give MU a 25-23 lead with a minute to go in the opening period. The Hawks, who shot 34.8% in the first half, took that two-point lead into halftime. MU's bench outscored Central's, 15-2 in the opening 20 minutes.
Eight straight points from Canady, including back-to-back triples, gave Monmouth a 35-29 lead six minutes into the second half. The Blue Devils responded with an 8-1 scoring run, keyed by a Justina Udenze jump-hook, to take a one-point lead with 10:23 left in the contest. CCSU's Gabby Oglesby gave the host's a 45-40 lead with two minutes to go on a jumper.
CCSU, which shot 41.9%, was paced by Oglesby's game-high 14 points.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Long Island University in an 11:30 a.m. contest at the Multipurpose Activity Center. The game will be televised on the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network.
