FINAL SCORE
Monmouth 65 (21-8, 14-4 CAA)
UNCW 53 (5-24, 3-15 CAA)

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – A double-double from Taisha Exanor helped power the Monmouth University women's basketball team to a 65-53 win over UNCW in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play on Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Hawks closed the regular season with their seventh straight win and clinched the two seed for the upcoming CAA Tournament with the win. 
 
Monmouth quickly opened up a 7-2 lead in the first on a Jaye Haynes triple at 6:59. The Hawks pushed their lead to 18-8 on a Rosalie Mercille triple at 1:51. Monmouth took an 18-15 lead after one. 
 
The two teams went back-and-forth to start the second period. Another three-pointer from Haynes at 4:23 gave the home team a 25-19 advantage. A triple from Mercille in the final minute gave Monmouth a 30-26 lead at the break. 
 
Monmouth opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run that featured buckets from Exanor and Belle Kranbuhl and led 40-26 with 6:45 left in the period. Monmouth pushed its lead to 47-29 with 3:39 showing on the clock on a Mercille lay-up. The Hawks took a 50-37 lead after three.
 
UNCW scored the first seven points of the fourth and cut the Monmouth lead to eight, 52-44 with 7:24 to go. The two teams continued to battle as Monmouth's lead fluctuated between 10-14 points over the final seven minutes as the Hawks claimed the 65-53 win.

NOTES & QUOTES
"I'm so proud of our graduates and the entire team. What a season! We grew immeasurably throughout the year and I'm hopeful the best for this team is yet to come. Thank you to everyone for the support."
    - Head coach Ginny Boggess

- The Hawks won the only meeting of the season with UNCW. Monmouth now leads the all-time series with the Seahawks 2-1. 
- The Hawks honored graduating seniors Ariana Vanderhoop, Kaci Donovan, Antonia Panayides, Jania Hall, Kayla Richardson and Belle Kranbuhl before the game. 
- The win was Hawks' 21st of the season, which is the third most wins in a single-season at Monmouth. 
- Monmouth clinched the two seed with the win and will face either the number seven Drexel or ten seed Delaware next week in the quarterfinals. 
- Taisha Exanor had a career-high 18 rebounds in the contest. She ties Belle Kranbuhl 18-at College of Charleston) for the most rebounds by a Hawk in a game this season. 
- Exanor added 12 points for her second double-double of the season. 
- Rosalie Mercille contributed 11 points and has now reached double figures in back-to-back games. 
- Ariana Vanderhoop chipped in 10 points. 

NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Monmouth shot 48.1% from the field and held UNCW to a 36.4 shooting percentage. 
- The Hawks knocked down 10 three-pointers in the game to the Seahawks' two. 
- Monmouth held a 41-23 edge in the rebounding battle. 
- The Hawks' bench outscored UNCW's bench 40-4. 
- Monmouth turned 10 offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points. 
- The Hawks finished with six blocks in the contest. 
 
NEXT UP
Monmouth will be the number two seed for the upcoming CAA Tournament and begin it's CAA run in the quarterfinals on Friday, Mar. 15 at 5 p.m.