Marist Red Foxes (20-9, 21-5 MAAC) – 69
Monmouth Hawks (12-16, 8-9 MAAC) – 45
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Pulling away in the second half with a 41-21 advantage, Marist earned a 69-45 win over the Monmouth University women's basketball team on Thursday night. The Hawks tied the game at 30 early in the third, but the Red Foxes went 15-29 (52%) in the second half to post a 39-15 score the rest of the way. Monmouth went just 2-of-14 in the fourth quarter, and 3-16 from three-point range in the game. Freshman Lucy Thomas led the team with eight points on 4-9 from the floor. Monmouth honored its two seniors prior to the game in McKinzee Barker and Erica Balman. Barker added six points and four assists in the loss, while Balman put up four points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. The Hawks fall to 12-16 (8-9 MAAC) on the season, and will travel to Saint Peter's on Saturday for the regular season finale.  
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"I was a little disappointed in our effort tonight. I just thought that in the second half, we didn't play with the energy that we needed to. It showed in our transition defense in particular. I didn't think we were real efficient in our offensive execution, and that led to some turnovers, which led to us not getting back on defense. Marist is a very efficient transition team, and when they started to get those points on us, our energy dropped."  - Monmouth head coach Jody Craig
 
-Monmouth went ahead 6-2 in the first quarter, as the seniors scored the first two buckets.
-Marist went on a 9-0 run after that, and eventually took an 11-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
-After Barker hit a triple to open the second, Marist used a 6-0 run to go ahead 20-12. The Hawks called a timeout.
-Monmouth closed the second quarter making five of its last seven shots, and trailed by just four at halftime with a 28-24 deficit.
-After a free throw from freshman Alexa Wallace, junior Sierra Green hit a triple to tie the game at 28 in the third quarter.
-Marist's Alana Gilmer scored eight points in the first 5:22 of the third quarter, including three layups to give the Red Foxes a 38-32 lead.
-The Red Foxes outscored Monmouth 25-16 in the third frame, and took a 53-40 advantage into the fourth. Marist shot 8-14 (57%) in the quarter and went 7-7 from the free throw line.
-Two more Gilmer jumpers helped Marist score the first six points of the fourth to go ahead 59-40.
-Marist closed the game on a 7-0 run and eventually outscored Monmouth 16-5 in the fourth.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-With two more three-pointers today, Green now has 92 on the season. She trails only Kayla Shaw (93) for the program record with one regular season game remaining.
-Balman now has 125 blocks in her career, which ranks 5^th in program history.
-The Hawks went just 4-10 from the free throw line. Marist went 8-10.
-Marist held the advantage in points off turnovers, 21-11.
-Barker played in her 119^th career game, which is the seventh most in program history.
-Both times the teams played this season, Marist won 69-45.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will make the short trip to Jersey City to face Saint Peter's on Saturday. Tip from the Yanitelli Center is set for 2:00 PM. The first round of the MAAC Championship begin on Thursday, March 7.