Monmouth Hawks (0-2) - 67
ECU Pirates (2-0) – 73
 
GREENVILLE, NC – After trailing by as many as 16, the Monmouth University women's basketball team stormed back to cut the deficit to one, but ultimately fell to East Carolina on Friday night, 73-67. Junior Sierra Green led the Hawks with 19 points, including five triples. Freshman Lucy Thomas registered a double-double in her second career game, scoring 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Thomas drilled all three of her three-point attempts in the third quarter. Junior Rosa Graham added seven points to go along with five steals for the second consecutive game. Monmouth shot 11-22 (50%) from three-point land, and outrebounded the Pirates 50-28. ECU had four players in double-figures however, and made 21 free throws. The Hawks drop to 0-2 on the season, and will travel to Lehigh on Tuesday morning for another non-conference road contest.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"We showed a lot of fight to battle back into this game after going down by so much. Our defense came up big and we gave ourselves a chance to come back and win this game. Decision making and turnovers cost us an opportunity to get a great road win. We have to learn how to finish a game." - Monmouth head coach Jody Craig
-ECU took an early 5-0 lead, forcing Monmouth to call a timeout with 8:32 left in the first quarter. The Pirates would score the first 10 points of the game before Green sunk two free throws.
-The Pirates went ahead 18-2 with 3:20 left in the first, but the Hawks ended the quarter on an 8-1 run to make it 19-10.
-Green took over in the second quarter, drilling four triples for 12 points. The Hawks cut the deficit to as little as six in the quarter, but ECU went into the locker room leading 44-36.
-The Hawks went on a 10-0 run in the middle of the third quarter, and trailed by just three with 4:23 remaining in the frame.
-Thomas drained three triples in the third quarter. The last one cut the deficit to just two with 3:50 left.
-By the end of the third quarter, Monmouth trailed 60-53. A Pirates three-pointer with 1:02 left was the quarter's last score.
-Another Green triple and a Balman free throw made it 60-59 ECU with 7:57 left in the game.
-The Hawks did not let ECU score a single point for 6:16 of game time. At the fourth quarter media (4:46), the Pirates held the slight 60-59 lead.
-A Taylor Nason layup with 2:23 left in the game once again made it a one-point deficit, as the Hawks trailed 66-65.
-ECU sealed the win with five free throws in the last 34 seconds.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-After falling behind 19-10 in the first, the Hawks outscored ECU in each of the final three quarters.
-11 different players scored for the Hawks.
-Graham and senior McKinzee Barker each dished four assists.
-Monmouth turned the ball over 34 times, compared to ECU's 24.
-In the first quarter, ECU shot 57.1%, while holding Monmouth to 16.7%.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will be on the road for two more games, beginning at Lehigh on Tuesday. Tip is scheduled for 11:00 AM. Monmouth holds a 7-4 lead in the all-time series, but the Mountain Hawks earned a 75-57 win last season in West Long Branch.