FINAL SCORE
Delaware 71 (9-14, 5-6 CAA)
Monmouth 67 (14-8, 7-4 CAA)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The University of Delaware used a big fourth quarter to battle back and defeat the Monmouth University women's basketball team, 71-67 on Sunday afternoon in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. 
 
Monmouth had the hot shooting hand out of the gate as Jaye Haynes' lay-up at 6:01 gave the home team a 10-5 advantage. A four-point play from Kaci Donovan at 1:38 extended the Monmouth lead to 19-10. Delaware scored the final five points of the period as the Hawks led 19-15 after one.
 
The Hawks scored seven of the first nine points in the second period and led 26-17 with 8:02 to go before the break. A 10-0 run by Delaware gave the visitors a 27-26 lead with 4:28 left in the period. 
 
Monmouth responded by scoring the next eight points in the game and took a 34-27 lead with 2:05 to go until the half. Rosalie Mercille and Kayla Richardson hit triples in that run. The Hawks eventually took a 38-31 lead at the break.
 
The two teams battled back-and-forth to start the third as Taisha Exanor's lay-up at 6:02 gave the home team a 44-36 lead. Belle Kranbuhl's bucket at 2:42 gave Monmouth a 47-40 advantage. Delaware rattled off seven straight points and tied the game at 47-47. Mercille knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Monmouth a 50-47 lead after three. 
 
The fourth quarter saw the teams battle on both ends of the court. Neither team held a lead of more than three points in the first 5:50. Trailing 58-56, Delaware went on a 10-2 run and took a 66-60 lead with 1:18 to go. Delaware took a 69-62 lead with 26 seconds to go. Five straight points from Donovan pulled Monmouth to within two, 69-68 with 13 seconds to go. Delaware made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds to play and closed out a 71-67 win.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"We got on our heels in the second half. Our staple all season has been rebounding and we gave up entirely too many offensive rebounds. There is a lot of positives to build om as we hit the road but we need to shore up our defense, rebounding, and ball security down the stretch."
    - Head coach Ginny Boggess

- Delaware leads the all-time series with the Hawks, 7-1. 
- Kaci Donovan led the Hawks as she scored a game-high 17 points. Included in those 17 tallies was Donovan's 800^th point of her career. She is the 26^th player in school history to score at least 800 points. 
- Belle Kranbuhl had three blocks in the game which brings her career total to 215. She moved past Sandra Cook (1984-88) into third place on the career blocks list at Monmouth. 
- Monmouth's 12 blocks are the most by a CAA team in a game this season and most by a Monmouth team in the last 10 years.
- Ariana Vanderhoop had a game-high 10 rebounds in the contest. It was her second double digit rebounding game of the season. 

NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Monmouth shot 43.1% from the field in the game but was limited to a 37% field goal percentage in the second half. Delaware shot 38.7% from the field but shot 42.1% in the second half.
- Both teams made seven three-pointers in the contest. 
- The Hawks finished with a 47-40 edge in the rebounding battle. 
- Monmouth finished with a season-high 12 blocks in the game. Four Hawks had a block in the game as that group was led by Taisha Exanor and Ella Farrelly, who had four each.
- Delaware scored 15 second chance points to Monmouth's five.  
  
NEXT UP
Monmouth heads south to North Carolina for a pair of games next weekend. The Hawks will visit Campbell on Friday, Feb. 16 and North Carolina A&T on Sunday, Feb. 18.