WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Alysha Womack (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara)
scored a game-high 20 points, her fourth-straight game with at least 20 points
to open the season, as the Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated
Lafayette, 62-43, in the opening round of the Thanksgiving Challenge Friday
afternoon at the Multipurpose Activity Center. With the win, the Hawks
improve to 1-3, while the Leopards fall to 1-4.
Womack also added a
career-high eight assists, while doing her scoring damage on an efficient
8-for-14 shooting, including 2-for-3 from long distance. Abigail Martin
(Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) also scored in double-figures with 12 points, while
Betsy Gadziala (Whitesboro, N.Y./Whitesboro) added a team-high nine rebounds
while drawing the defensive assignment of Leopards 6-foot-7 center Danielle
Fiacco. Fiacco grabbed 11 rebounds in the contest, but none came on the
offensive glass.
Lafayette was led by Emily Homan,
who narrowly missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. The next-greatest
offensive contributor was Fiacco, who was held to six points on 3-of-10
shooting.
The Hawks sprinted to a 23-point
lead in the first half on the strength of 15 points from Womack and 10 more
from Martin. The Monmouth defense stifled the Leopards, holding them without a
field goal for almost 11 minutes to start the game. All told, the Hawks held
Lafayette to just 14.3 percent (4-28) shooting in the first half.
After the Hawks scored nine
of the game's first 11 points, Monmouth followed with a 12-0 run to go on top,
21-4, on a Womack fast-break lay-up at the 9:30 mark. The Hawks gradually
worked the advantage up to 23, 36-13, on Martin's lay-up with 2:22 remaining in
the half. Homan and Brya Freeland led Lafayette with five points apiece in the
opening stanza.
Lafayette whittled the
Monmouth lead to single-digits, 38-29, scoring 12 of the first 14 points to
open the second half. But Monmouth countered with a 9-0 run to regain a
comfortable cushion, and the Leopards would draw to within no closer than 13
points the rest of the way. Four different Hawks scored in the 9-0 stretch. The
lead eventually swelled to as many as 21 points on Carly Thibault's (East Lyme,
Conn./East Lyme) two free throws with 2:27 remaining in regulation.
For the game, Monmouth
outshot Lafayette, 39.0 percent (23-59) to 23.6 percent (13-55) from the floor
and 37.5 percent (3-8) to 16.7 percent (2-12) from long range. The Leopards
took a 75.0 percent (15-20) to 56.5 percent (13-23) advantage from the
free-throw line. Monmouth outrebounded the Leopards, 44-41, while taking a 21-9
edge on points off turnovers.
The Hawks return to Thanksgiving
Challenge action Sunday, when they travel to Lehigh. Opening tip from Stabler
Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
