2023-24 Monmouth Women's Basketball Game Fourteen Preview
                                                                                       
Monmouth Hawks (8-5, 1-1 CAA) at College of Charleston (11-3, 3-0 CAA)
Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024 - 2:00 p.m.  
TD Arena - Charleston, S.C.

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OPENING TIP
• After playing four straight games at home, the Hawks hit the road to visit College of Charleston for their lone game of the weekend.
• Monmouth will be taking a three-game road win streak into the contest with the Cougars (Dec. 2-11).
• Monmouth is 1-1 all-time against the Cougars. The Hawks lost their regular season match-up with the Cougars but earned a win in the CAA Tournament match-up.
• Kaci Donovan led the Hawks with 11 points in the win over Campbell. She has led the Hawks in scoring in eight of 13 games this season.
• The MU defense locked down and held Campbell to just 47 points last time out. It was the third time this season the Hawks have held an opponent under 50 points this season.  
• Monmouth finished with 42 rebounds against Campbell. The Hawks improved to 5-1 on the year when grabbing 40 or more rebounds in a game.
• Kaci Donovan enters play on Sunday, ranked first in the CAA while shooting 43.6% from three-point range.
• Belle Kranbuhl pulled down the 600th rebound of her career on Sunday against Campbell. She is the 13th player in program history to reach the mark.
• The Hawks have spread the ball around this season. Seven Hawks have recorded 10 or more assists through the first 13 games. That group is led by Sandrine Clesca, who has 32 helpers.  
• Belle Kranbuhl has 29 blocks this season and 189 for her career. She ranks 15th among active Division I women's players for career blocks.
 

FIFTY BELOW
Monmouth has had a lockdown defense of late. Since December 2, the Hawks have held three opponents to under 50 points and five of the seven opponents in that stretch have been held to 51 points or less.

Ten times under head coach Ginny Boggess, the Hawks have held an opponent to 49 points or less. The lowest point total allowed under Boggess was 37 vs. Dartmouth in the 2021-22 season. Monmouth enters play Sunday ranked fourth in the CAA for scoring defense (56.1).

FABULOUS AT FORTY
The win over Campbell on Sunday gave head coach Ginny Boggess her 40th win on the Hawks bench in year three. Boggess is the seventh coach in the program's Division I history to reach the 40 win mark. 

CLEANING THE GLASS
Monmouth outrebounded Campbell, 42-24 last time out. Nine of the 10 Hawks who appeared in the game recorded at least one rebound. That group was led by Taisha Exanor, who finished with eight while Kaci Donovan added five boards. 

The Hawks are 5-1 this season when they pull down 40 or more rebounds in a game and 6-0 when they win the rebounding battle by a +10 margin. Last season the Hawks were 8-3 when they pulled down 40 or more rebounds in a game. Belle Kranbuhl is averaging a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game while two other Hawks are averaging better than four rebounds per game.

FROM BEHIND THE ARC 
Kaci Donovan has had the hot hand for the Hawks from behind the arc. The senior has knocked down 34 three-pointers in 13 games and is shooting 43.6% from three-point range. Her three-point shooting percentage is tops in the CAA. Donovan has hit at least one three-pointer in 12 of 13 games this season. She needs just five more three-pointers to match her season total from deep from a year ago.

STREAKING ON THE ROAD
While this will be the Hawks' first road game since Dec. 11, the Hawks will carry a three-game road win streak (Dec. 2-11) into Sunday's action. Monmouth needs two more wins to match its longest road win streak under head coach Ginny Boggess (five games during the 2021-22 season). During the Hawks' current road win streak, Monmouth is averaging 67.3 points per game while only giving up 49.7 points per game. The Hawks are shooting better than 40% from the field and behind the arc while Kaci Donovan is averaging 16.3 points per game.  

SEEING DOUBLE
Monmouth had a pair of Hawks score in double figures last time out (Kaci Donovan-11, Jania Hall-10). Donovan has now scored in double figures in five straight games and 10 of 13 contests. Hall has reached double figures in three of the last four contests and  six times this season. 

BE BIG IN THE LANE
Belle Kranbuhl had two blocks against Campbell while four other Hawks all registered a rejection in the contest. Monmouth finished with six blocks in the game. 

It was the 12th time in 13 games that the Hawks have recorded at least three blocks in a game. The Hawks currently rank 12th nationally in blocks per game (5.6). Monmouth has posted at least eight blocks in a game four times this season. Kranbuhl leads the Hawks with 29 blocks and ranks 22nd nationally in blocks per game (2.2). Ten different Hawks have recorded at least one block this season.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
College of Charleston is 11-3 overall and 3-0 in CAA play. The Cougars are coming off a 60-48 win over Drexel on Friday night. Jenna Annecchiarico leads CofC as she is averaging 15.2 points per game with 88 assists. Taryn Barbot is adding 14.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during her rookie campaign.

UP NEXT
Monmouth is back in action on Friday, Jan. 19 when it hosts Elon at 7 p.m.