WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University women's basketball team
forced 22 Saint Francis (Pa.) turnovers to breeze past the Red Flash, 66-45, for
their eighth straight win Monday night at the Multipurpose Activity Center. The
win avenges a Dec. 5 loss against the defending NEC Champions in which the Red
Flash scored 82 points on the Hawks. The eight-game stretch matches an
eight-game winning streak from last season as the longest winning streak the
program has seen since 1994. The MU record of 13 straight came in 1985-86. With
the win, the Hawks improve to 11-8 (6-2 NEC), while the Red Flash falls to 7-12
(4-4 NEC).
"We're just really thrilled
to death," said Head Coach Jenny Palmateer. "We're clicking right now on the
offensive end, as well as the defensive end. To hold a team like that to 45
points is just a real tribute to what our team was doing on the defensive end.
And you don't get without just a total team effort. They've got a prolific
scorer (Alli Williams) over there that averages between 16 and 20 every single
game and I think we held her to six today. And that was Gena Broadus, but with
help from others. I'm just really proud of our defensive effort and right now,
we've got a lot of options on offense, which is nice."
Abby Martin (Maplewood,
N.J./Columbia) scored a game-high 16 points and added five rebounds for the
Hawks, while Alexis Canady (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) had 13 points and
a game-high seven rebounds. Chevannah Paalvast (Auckland, New Zealand/Massey)
added 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Alysha Womack
(Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) added seven points, six assists, five
rebounds and two steals.
Alexa Hayward led Saint
Francis (Pa.) with 11 points, while Alli Williams, who entered the game
averaging 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, was held to six points and six
boards.
The Hawks
immediately smothered the Red Flash from the outset, scoring 15 of the first 17
points. The Monmouth lead increased to 15 points, 21-6, on Canady's fast-break
lay-up at the 8:31 mark, before the Red Flash scored five points in a row. The
Hawks then went on an 11-2 run to take a 19-point lead, 32-13, at the 2:35
mark. Five different Hawks scored in the run. The Red Flash finished the half
on a 7-0 run to close the deficit to 12, 32-20, at the half.
Canady scored 11
points to lead all scorers at the half, while Womack dished out six assists.
Hayward led the Red Flash with eight points. The Hawks forced Saint Francis
into 11 turnovers.
The Red Flash
closed to within nine points on Hayward's three-point play to begin the second
half. But the Hawks scored the next six points and never led the lead back into
single digits the rest of the way. The lead grew to as many as 26 points,
66-40, on Adriana Allen's (Ajax, Ontario/Pickering) free throw with 2:09
remaining.
For the game, the
Hawks outshot the Red Flash, 39.4 percent (26-66) to 32.7 percent (17-52) from
the floor and outrebounded Saint Francis, 45-37. Saint Francis took a 30.8
percent (4-13) to 7.7 percent (1-13) edge from long range and a 70.0 percent
(7-10) to 59.1 percent (13-22) advantage from the free-throw line. The Hawks
outscored Saint Francis, 16-5 off turnovers, 12-0 on fast breaks and 44-20 in
the paint. Monmouth forced 22 turnovers, while committing just 10 giveaways on
the night.
The Hawks return
to NEC action Saturday afternoon, when they travel to Smithfield, R.I., to take
on Bryant. Opening tip from the Chace Athletic Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.
