FINAL SCORE
No. 7 Monmouth 69 (15-15)
No. 10 College of Charleston 54 (11-18)

TOWSON, MD – The No. 7 Monmouth University women's basketball team rocketed out of the gates, opening up a 27-10 lead after one period of play, en route to a 69-54 win over the No. 10 College of Charleston in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament on Thursday night. 
 
Kaci Donovan and Bri Tinsley paced the Hawks with 14 points apiece while Ariana Vanderhoop chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds. Jada Logan led the Cougars with a game-high 28 points and six rebounds. 
 
Monmouth flew out to an 11-0 advantage with 6:23 to play in the first. Donovan had four points in that early stretch. The Hawks continued to shoot the ball well and pushed the lead to 20-6 on a Belle Kranbuhl lay-up at 1:51. MU closed out the first by scoring five of the final seven and took a 27-10 lead after one. 
 
The Cougars opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run and cut the Monmouth lead to 30-17 with 6:02 to go until the half. The two teams traded baskets as the Hawks' lead fluctuated between 15 and nine points over the next five and half minutes. Donovan hit a pair of late free throws as Monmouth took a 36-25 lead at the break. 
 
The Hawks had the hot hand from three-point range to start the third. Monmouth's first three baskets came from behind the arc and pushed the Hawks' lead to 45-25. The Hawks and Cougars traded points as an Ella Farrelly bucket at 4:18 put the Hawks up, 52-31. A Donovan triple at the buzzer gave Monmouth a 57-36 lead at the end of three.
 
Vanderhoop opened the fourth quarter scoring with a lay-up and Monmouth had its largest lead of the game, 59-36 with 9:31 to play. Monmouth's lead would fluctuate between 12-20 points over the final nine minutes of the game. The Hawks eventually claimed the 69-54 win.

NOTES & QUOTES
"The most connected competitive team is going to be the winner at the end of the night and our balanced attack demonstrated that tonight. We came out ready to defend tonight and we executed the plan well. We have struggled with the press lately and I was glad to see us work through it better tonight. I'm excited to be playing tomorrow."
- Head Coach Ginny Boggess

- Monmouth was playing in its first CAA Tournament game after joining the league this summer.
- The Hawks got their first postseason win since the 2019-20 team won its first round match-up with Iona.
- MU took advantage of its battle on the offensive glass tonight. The Hawks turned 20 offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points. 
- Monmouth improved to 11-6 on the year when it makes eight or more three-pointers in a game. 
- The Hawks did a good job sharing the ball as they had 19 assists on 25 made baskets.
- Monmouth featured a balanced attack as all 10 players scored at least two points and all 10 grabbed at least one rebound. 
- Monmouth won the rebounding battle, 48-30.

 NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Lucy Thomas broke the school record for career games played as she appeared in her 126th career game.
- Eight Hawks recorded at least one assist in the game. That group was led by Belle Kranbuhl and Bri Tinsley, who had four each. 
- Kaci Donovan has scored in double figures in three straight games and 12 times this season. 
- Bri Tinsley has scored in double figures in 16 games. 
- Belle Kranbuhl had three blocks in the game which gave her 55 for the season and 151 for her career. She moved into sole possession of fourth place on the career blocks list. 

NEXT UP
Monmouth is back on the court on Friday, Mar. 10 when it battles No. 2 Drexel at 5 p.m.