Box Score WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Sara English (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West [UMass]) posted her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three blocks, but the Monmouth University women's basketball team fell at Yale, 62-58, Tuesday night at Lee Amphitheater. The loss snaps the Hawks' three-game winning streak, dropping MU to 3-2. Yale improves to 2-4 with the win.

Jenny Horvatinovic (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion Area) added 12 points for the Hawks, while Helena Kurt (Spanga, Sweden/Igelstavikens Gymnasium) added eight points and five rebounds. Sarah Olson (Freehold, N.J./Howell [NJIT]) also chipped in with seven points for the Hawks. Monmouth was plagued by foul trouble in the second half, getting whistled for 18 fouls in the latter stanza and 28 for the game. Yale converted 13-of-20 free-throw opportunities in the second half.

Yale was led by Sarah Halejian's 17 points and eight rebounds. Halejian shot 11-of-14 from the free-throw line. Tamara Simpson also added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. Katie Werner, Jen Berkowitz, Whitney Wyckoff and Lena Munzer also chipped in with seven points apiece.

“This is a tough one for us,” said Monmouth Head Coach Jenny Palmateer. “I feel like it was kind of a weird game. A lot of fouls were called and we didn't do a very good job adjusting to the way the game was being called. I think they scored 20 points from the foul line and for a stretch, they hadn't had any field goals. They were only scoring from the foul line, which really hurt us. I think they did a really good job in the beginning of the second half posting their guards and were able to take advantage of us a little bit on the inside. In a game that goes down to the wire like this, it was just all they needed to be able to pull that one out.”

The Hawks never trailed in the first half, building a lead as large as eight points on two Walker free throws at the 9:16 mark. But Yale countered with a 7-0 run to close to within 20-19 on a Halejian jumper at the 4:56 mark. Bethune scored on a driving lay-up and Olson knocked down a three-pointer to halt the run. Monmouth held onto a 27-25 lead at the half.

Horvatinovic led the Hawks with five points at the break, while Kurt, Jamiyah Bethune (Union, N.J./Union [Penn State]) and English added four points apiece. English also grabbed five boards in the period. Halejian and Wyckoff led Yale with six points apiece in the opening stanza, while Werner added five points and five boards in the period.

After the lead did not change hands in the first 20 minutes, the second half featured nine lead changes. Yale took its first lead of the game on a Wyckoff free throw at the 17:04 mark. Eight lead changes later, Monmouth took a 47-44 lead on Kurt's lay-up with 6:11 left and the lead remained three on English's putback at the 5:30 mark. But Yale scored the next seven points and never trailed again. The Hawks cut the deficit to two on two occasions, but two Halejian free throws with 13 seconds left put the game away.

For the game, Monmouth outshot Yale, 37.3 percent (19-51) to 32.3 percent (20-62) from the floor, including a 30.0 percent (3-10) to 16.7 percent (2-12) edge from long range and an 85.0 percent (17-20) to 69.0 percent (20-29) advantage from the free-throw line. Yale took a 41-38 edge on the boards, including a 16-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Yale turned the ball over just nine times, while forcing 17 Monmouth turnovers.

“On the positive side, we play in a couple of days. So we don't have very long to kind of think about this one,” said Palmateer. “I do think we're going to watch this film. I think there's a ton of stuff that we can learn from today's game that will really help us moving forward. But we're getting on the bus and we're on to the next game. Have to have a short memory after this one.”  

The Hawks begin MAAC play Friday night, when they travel to Marist. Tipoff from the McCann Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.