Monmouth Women Topple First Place St. Francis

WEST LONG BRANCH - The Monmouth University women’s basketball team defeated first-place St. Francis (Pa.) 60-51 in a decisive Northeast Conference game on Monday night at the Multipurpose Activity Center.

The victory puts Monmouth into a tie for second place in the NEC with Long Island, and one game behind St. Francis.

Monmouth (19-8, 11-5 NEC) had the lead until St. Francis (17-11, 12-4 NEC) was able to clinch the first half with a score of 27-24.

The Hawks turned things around in the second half and used a 14-2 run to propel themselves to the victory.

Junior Alexis Canady, who tied for the team lead with 14 points, said the team was able to to turn things around with an incredible defensive strategy.

“Coach has been saying to us this entire time, now we control our own destiny," Canady said. "Since we beat the defending champs there is nobody in this conference that we can’t beat as long as we stay true to our defensive principles and stay together.” 

Monmouth Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley said this philosophy will be important as the team continues on through conference play.

“We try not to, at this stretch, talk about beating a certain team but doing what we do well.” Gaitley said.

Sophomore Erin Rooney, also scored 14 points and contributed four steals and seven assists. Canady made 4-of-4 shots from 3-point range to help her tie Rooney for the team lead in scoring.  Sophomore Abby Martin also provided 13 points for the Hawks.

The Hawks final regular season games are on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and Monday Feb. 28 at Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. Monmouth defeated Sacred Heart earlier this year and lost a 3-point game to Quinnipiac on Jan. 7.

If the season were to end today, Monmouth would be the third seed in the NEC Tournament which begins on March 5, and own home-field advantage over their opponent.