WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Jasmine McCall (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan [Seton Hall]) scored a team-high 17 points off the bench and Christina Mitchell (Baltimore, MD/MATHS) grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with a career-high six blocks and five assists as the Monmouth University women's basketball team defeated perennial MAAC power Marist, 60-52, Sunday afternoon at the Multipurpose Activity Center. With the win, the Hawks improve to 5-9 (3-2 MAAC), while the Red Foxes slip to 4-11 (3-2 MAAC).

Tyese Purvis (Queens, NY/Francis Lewis [Monroe C.C.]) also scored in double figures with 11 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists, while McKinzee Barker (Bomont, WV/Clay County) chipped in with seven points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Jasmine Walker (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) added eight points, while Sarah Olson (Freehold, NJ/Howell [NJIT]) and Jamiyah Bethune (Union, NJ/Union [Penn State]) contributed six points each. Monmouth's bench outscored Marist's reserves, 27-0, while the Hawks took a 28-18 edge in points in the paint. The Hawks turned the ball over a season-low six times, five fewer than their previous mark.

Tori Jarosz led Marist with 22 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks, while Sydney Coffey added 14 points and three assists. Claire Oberdorf chipped in with seven points, while Allie Clement had five points and six rebounds.  

"I'm really excited for our team," said Monmouth Head Coach Jenny Palmateer. "It's a great win for our program and you've got to be able to protect your home court in the conference. To be able to beat a quality team like Marist proves that we're moving in the right direction."

The Hawks scored the first six points of the game and continued to lead by six after an Olson three from the left corner off a Purvis drive and kick just over five minutes in. The lead swelled to seven after McCall hit a pull-up jumper, made a steal and took it herself for a fast-break lay-up at the 1:30 mark. Marist scored the next six points to close to within one, including consecutive buckets from Jarosz to open the second quarter. A Walker three put an end to the run and the Hawks maintained at least a two-point lead the rest of the quarter. Walker scored on a drive with 1:47 left in the half to send Monmouth to the locker room with a 26-22 lead.

McCall led the Hawks with seven points in the first half, while Walker added five. Mitchell made her presence felt with five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Jarosz led all scorers with 13 points to go along with nine rebounds and four blocks. Coffey added seven points as she and Jarosz accounted for 20 of Marist's 22 points in the half. Led by McCall and Walker, Monmouth's bench outscored that of Marist, 14-0.

Marist scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game at 26-26, before Purvis got inside for consecutive buckets and a 30-26 Monmouth lead. Maura Fitzpatrick then hit a jumper and Oberdorf buried a three at the 6:16 mark to give Marist a 31-30 advantage, its only lead of the game. Monmouth quickly answered with a Mitchell baseline jumper and a Walker driving lay-up to retake a 34-31 lead at the midway point of the third quarter, sparking a 14-3 Monmouth spurt. McCall scored eight-straight points for Monmouth to cap the run, giving the Hawks a 44-34 lead with 49 seconds left in the period. The 10-point cushion represented the largest lead of the game for Monmouth. Coffey got to the basket to lay it in as time expired in the third, cutting the MU lead to 44-36 after three.

Monmouth had the answer every time Marist looked to cut into the lead in the fourth quarter. The closest the Red Foxes would get was within four, 56-52, on a pair of Jarosz free throws with 2:33 remaining. But the Hawks worked a possession in which they grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds and capitalized on the third chance when Barker hit a jumper off Mitchell's sixth offensive board of the game and her fifth assist of the contest. The Monmouth defense held up, not allowing Marist to score again, and Bethune put the exclamation point on the victory with a driving lay-up with 55 seconds remaining.

For the game, the Hawks outshot Marist, 37.5 percent (24-64) to 32.7 percent (17-52) from the floor, including a 23.8 percent (5-21) to 20.0 percent (3-15) edge from long range. The Red Foxes edged the Hawks from the free-throw line, 75.0 percent (15-20) to 70.0 percent (7-10). Monmouth outrebounded the Red Foxes, 43-37, including a 15-10 edge on the offensive glass. Both teams did well possessing the ball, with Marist turning it over 11 times and Monmouth coughing it up just six times. Monmouth enjoyed a 13-5 edge in points off turnovers.

The Hawks return to action Friday, when they travel to Siena. Opening tip of the Kids Day contest from the Alumni Recreation Center is scheduled for 11 a.m. on ESPN3.