Box Score PROVIDENCE, RI – Tyese Purvis (Queens, NY/Francis Lewis [Monroe C.C.]) and Dana Carbone (Toms River, NJ/Monsignor Donovan) scored 12 points apiece and Jasmine Walker (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) compiled a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Monmouth University women's basketball team fell at Providence, 71-59, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 1-3, while the Friars improve to 2-3.

The 12 points represent a new career high for Carbone. Christina Mitchell (Baltimore, MD/MATHS) chipped in with six points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Jamiyah Bethune (Union, NJ/Union [Penn State]) and Sarah Olson (Freehold, NJ/Howell [NJIT]) also scored eight points apiece.

Sarah Beal led all scorers with 21 points for Providence, while also adding six rebounds and four assists. Aliyah Miller added 18 points, including 10 in the third quarter, and nine rebounds, while Evi Iiskola chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds. Jovana “Yoyo” Nogic contributed nine points, seven assists and four rebounds for the Friars.

“I thought we played decent enough defense for the majority of the game to be able to pull that one out,” said Monmouth Head Coach Jenny Palmateer. “We've known all along that we're a team that can't afford to not maximize all possessions. We feel really good about our team and the players that we have and the skills that we all contribute. But the thing is we have very little room for error. If you look at the quarter scores – lost the first quarter by three, lost the second quarter by three – they're not blowout quarters. But those possessions add up and that's why we fell short in the end. That being said, Providence shot the ball really well today, especially from the three-point line. Give them credit. They hit some big shots at key moments that were the back breakers for us.”

Monmouth scored six of the first eight points to open the game before the Friars came back to tie it at 10-10 and take the lead on a Nogic three at the 1:57 mark of the first quarter. The lead reached four on an Erica Meyer free throw, before Olson knocked down a triple to cut the PC lead to one. Miller got inside for a lay-up with 23 seconds left in the quarter to make it 16-13 Providence after one.

After a pair of Walker free throws to open the second quarter cut the PC lead to 16-15, the Friars went on a 7-0 run to open an eight-point lead, 23-15, at the 7:15 mark. Miller scored the first four points of the run. The Hawks twice cut the deficit to four, before a three from Beal and a jumper by Miller gave Providence its largest lead of the half, 34-25, with 59 seconds left in the quarter. Purvis responded with a three from the right wing to make it a 34-28 game at the half.

Walker led Monmouth with 10 points and eight rebounds, six on the offensive boards, at the break. Purvis added six and Olson and Carbone chipped in with five points apiece. Mitchell grabbed eight rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, in the first half. Beal led Providence with 11 points, while Miller added seven. Nogic hit a pair of threes for six points. Both teams had difficulty holding onto the ball, but Providence turned Monmouth's 12 turnovers into 12 points, while the Hawks could only get four points on the nine possessions that PC coughed it up.

Miller came out on fire in the third quarter, making four of her first five field-goal attempts with an offensive rebound and putback on her only miss as the Friars built a 44-33 lead to force a Monmouth timeout less than three minutes in. Monmouth scored the next four points on a Mitchell lay-up and Purvis jumper to cut the deficit to seven, before twice whittling it to four points. Erica Balman (Marcellus, NY/Marcellus) scored on a putback with 3:36 left in the period and the shot clock running down on the first occasion, before a jumper in the paint by Carbone at the 1:37 mark also cut the PC lead to four. But the Friars took a seven-point lead after three following a Meyer lay-up.

A Purvis lay-up to open the fourth-quarter scoring made it a five-point game before the Friars gradually worked their lead back up to 11, 61-50, on Iiskola's second-straight back-door lay-up at the 5:44 mark. The closest the Hawks could draw the rest of the way was within seven on another Purvis bucket at the 4:11 mark.

For the game, Providence outshot Monmouth, 45.2 percent (28-62) to 29.0 percent (20-69) from the floor, including a 58.3 percent (7-12) to 25.0 percent (7-28) advantage from long range. The Hawks hit 80.0 percent (12-15) of their free throws to the Friars' 57.1 percent (8-14) and edged Providence on the boards, 43-42. Monmouth's bench also outscored that of Providence, 26-10, while the Hawks took a 20-11 edge in second-chance points. Providence enjoyed a 12-0 advantage on fast-break points, while also outscoring Monmouth, 30-22, in the paint. The Hawks outscored Providence, 7-2, off turnovers in the second half, while the Friars took a 14-11 edge for the game.

The Hawks return to action Friday, when they open conference play against Siena. Tip-off from the Multipurpose Activity Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.