Monmouth Hawks (7-18, 4-12 MAAC) – 61
Niagara Purple Eagles (9-16, 7-9 MAAC) – 62
 
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The Monmouth University women's basketball team erased a 13-point second half deficit, but was eventually edged at Niagara on Thursday, 62-61.
 
Monmouth took the lead on a layup from senior Alexa Middleton (Philadelphia, PA/Abington Friends) with 58 seconds remaining, but Niagara took the last lead on a three-point play with 15 seconds left.
 
Middleton ended with 21 points and 12 rebounds, notching her eighth double-double of the season.
 
Senior Sierra Green (Queens, NY/Francis Lewis/Monroe CC) added 14 points in the loss, drilling three triples.
 
Senior Rosa Graham (Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney) also made three from beyond the arc, ending with nine points and six rebounds.
 
Monmouth falls to 7-18 (4-12 MAAC) on the season, and will face Canisius Saturday in Buffalo.  
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"Back-to-back one-point losses due to poor execution of clock management is hard to swallow. These are heartbreaking losses. We got off to a bad start and battled back, but we have to learn to close the deal." - Monmouth head coach Jody Craig
 
-Graham was involved in Monmouth's first seven points, drilling a three-pointer before assisting on two Middleton layups.
-The Monmouth offense was red hot in the first quarter, taking a 20-17 lead after shooting 8-13 (62%) from the floor.
-In the second quarter, Niagara's Maggie McIntyre made three straight triples to give the Purple Eagles a 30-25 lead.
-The run eventually got up to 17-2, and Niagara took a 38-27 lead into halftime.
-Monmouth cut the deficit to six early in the third after a 7-0 run, including five from Green. Later, a 6-0 run capped by a Middleton and-one made it 44-42 Niagara.
-Monmouth eventually outscored Niagara 21-14 in the third quarter, and trailed 52-48 heading into the final frame.
-The Hawks scored the first five points of the fourth, including Green's third three-pointer that gave Monmouth a 53-52 lead with 8:15 left.
-After Green found Middleton for a layup to put Monmouth up three, Niagara answered with a triple. With 2:25 left, the game was knotted at 59-59.
-Another Middleton layup with less than a minute remaining gave Monmouth the lead.
-With 15.3 seconds left, Niagara's Jai Moore converted on a three-point play to put the Purple Eagles ahead by one.
-After Niagara got the ball back, Monmouth came up with a steal. With four seconds left, the Hawks missed a contested layup, and the Purple Eagles dribbled it out for the win.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Middleton notched the eighth double-double of the season, and 19^th of her career. Her 857 career rebounds rank 2^nd all-time. In 16 MAAC games, Middleton is averaging 11.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest.
-With two more today, Graham's 258 assists move her up to 13^th all-time.
-Monmouth shot 22-51 (43.1%) from the floor, while Niagara went 26-54 (48.1%).
-Senior Taylor Nason scored a season-high eight points, making 4-of-5 shots.  
-Monmouth outscored Niagara 54-41 in the first, third, and fourth quarters.
-Freshman Saule Kaupyte started for the first time in her career.
-Each team had 30 rebounds, 17 turnovers, and seven made three-pointers.
 
UP NEXT
Monmouth heads to Canisius for a 2:00 PM matchup on Saturday. The teams have each won eight games in the all-time series, including a 71-62 win by the Golden Griffins in January.