Iona Gaels (9-13, 7-10 MAAC) at Monmouth Hawks (13-13, 8-9 MAAC) at
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022 – 2 p.m. EST
OceanFirst Bank Center, West Long Branch, N.J.
 
TV
ESPN3
Play-by-Play: Eddy Occhipinti
Analyst: Dei Lynam
 
Monmouth Notes

OPENING TIP
-A win would give Monmouth its first regular season sweep of Iona since the 2017-18 campaign.  
-A victory against the Gaels would also give the Hawks their eighth home win of the season, the most in West Long Branch since the 2015-16 squad won eight.  
-The Hawks are currently on a five-game skid and are looking to get back into the win column.  
-The Gaels halted a three-game losing streak with back-to-back home wins over Saint Peter's and Rider.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-Saturday's matchup between Monmouth and Iona marks the 26th all-time meeting between the two sides and the second this season.
-Monmouth last saw Iona in the MAAC season opener on Dec. 18, 2021, when the Hawks bested the Gaels, 64-55, in New Rochelle, N.Y. Stella Clark came one point shy of her career-best mark in the last meeting after dropping a season-high 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting with four treys. Jen Louro also finished in double-digit scoring with 15 points.  
-Five of the last six games between the two MAAC opponents have been decided by single digits.  
 
LOURO'S RECENT SUCCESS AGAINST THE GAELS
Redshirt senior guard Jen Louro has put up double-digit points in three straight outings against the Iona. During that stretch, she is averaging 14 points per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and 64 percent from long range. She is also averaging 2.3 steals in the last three contests opposite the Gaels.
 
FINDING HER TEAMMATES
Through Monmouth's 26 games, graduate student point guard Stella Clark leads the team with 105 assists (4.2 APG), which ranks third in the MAAC. She is the first Monmouth player to dish out over 100 assists in a season since Helena Kurt '17 handed out 139 during the 2014-15 campaign. Clark is just one of three Hawks to accomplish that feat in the last 20 seasons.
 
READY WHEN CALLED UPON
The Monmouth bench has contributed heavily over the Hawks' last four outings. The non-starters have combined to score 118 points in the last four games, accounting for 53 percent of the team's scoring. The Hawks' bench scored a season-best 41 points in the Feb. 19 game against Manhattan. It was the most points scored by Monmouth's non-starters in a game since Dec. 6, 2017 when the bench put up 41 against Fairleigh Dickinson.