Monmouth Hawks (1-11, 1-7 MAAC) - 60
Saint Peter's Peacocks (7-11, 6-6 MAAC) – 70
 
JERSEY CITY, NJ – Despite a strong second half comeback, the Monmouth University women's basketball team was defeated by Saint Peter's on Saturday night, 70-60.
 
After falling behind by 22 points, Monmouth battled back with an 18-2 run in the second half. The Hawks later got within five with just 3:10 remaining following a three-pointer from freshman Gabrielle Wener (Oakland, ME/Messalonskee).
 
Wener stuffed the stat sheet once again, scoring a career-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
 
Freshman Belle Kranbuhl (Boonville, NY/Adirondack Central) continued her strong rookie campaign, posting 11 points, eight rebounds, and seven blocks in the loss.
 
Freshman Jania Hall (Gaithersburg, MD/St. Vincent Pallotti) scored in double-figures for the seventh time this season, pouring in 11 points (5-of-7 free throws).
 
Monmouth falls to 1-11 (1-7 MAAC) on the season, and will face Saint Peter's again tomorrow night.  
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"We played well enough to win this game, but shot ourselves in the foot with missed layups, missed free throws, and turnovers. We have got to take the next step as a team by being more efficient and actually playing to our potential." - Monmouth head coach Jody Craig
 
-Kranbuhl scored six early points for Monmouth, as the Hawks took a slight 8-7 lead at the first quarter media timeout.
-Monmouth shot just 3-of-10 from the floor in the first quarter, but made 7-of-10 free throws. Saint Peter's used an 8-1 run in the frame and held a 19-13 lead heading into the second.
-The Hawks answered with a 5-0 run early in the second to cut the deficit to three.
-Saint Peter's ended the second quarter on a 12-3 run, and led 39-27 at halftime.
-The Peacocks used a full-court press to force Monmouth into four early turnovers in the second half, capitalizing with eight points.
-After Saint Peter's built its largest lead of 22, the Blue & White battled back with a 16-2 run, including seven from Wener. Heading into the fourth, the Peacocks maintained a 53-45 advantage.  
-Kranbuhl scored the first bucket of the fourth to extend the run, but Saint Peter's scored the next six points.
-Following the fourth quarter media timeout, Kranbuhl swatted her seventh shot of the game on the defensive end, and Hall finished an and-one play on the offensive side. With 4:14 left, Monmouth cut the deficit to nine.
-Wener buried another triple with 3:01 remaining, chopping the Saint Peter's lead to 63-58.
-The Peacocks outscored Monmouth 7-2 from that point, including three made free throws over the last 26 seconds.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Hall leads the team with seven games in double figures. She also leads the team with 10.0 points per contest.  
-Kranbuhl has scored in double-figures in four straight games, and is now averaging of 6.2 points and 8.0 rebounds. She now leads the MAAC with 3.0 blocks per game.
-Wener scored in double-figures for the second time this season. Her previous season high was 10 points at Saint Joseph's.
-Redshirt junior Jen Louro added nine points and matched a career-high of six assists.
-Monmouth's 60 points were the second most this season (61 in win over Siena).
-Saint Peter's scored 26 points off of 21 Monmouth turnovers.
-The Hawks won the rebounding battle 35-31.
 
UP NEXT
The teams will play at the same time tomorrow night. The Hawks now hold a 27-14 lead in the all-time series.