The women’s basketball team has started its season with a 2-3 record. After going winless in their first three games on the road, the Hawks were able to win two straight games over the holiday weekend.
Opening the season in Baltimore on November 11, MU fell to UMBC 71-68 despite a 21-point effort by Alysha Womack.
Traveling cross country to Washington on Friday, November 16, the Hawks came up short of a victory, losing 79-69 to Washington State.
Womack led the Hawks with 25 points and Abigail Martin added 8 rebounds. The Blue and White lost their third straight to Gonzaga 77-51 on Sunday, November 18.
“Our west coast trip we were playing really well, unfortunately the scoreboard wasn’t showing it but we were doing some really good things,” said head coach Jenny Palmateer.
The Hawks returned to the MAC on Friday for the second annual Thanksgiving Challenge, where they defeated the Lafayette Leopards 62-43.
Womack led the scoring attack with 20 points, adding 8 assists. The performance marked Womack’s fourth straight game to start the season with 20 or more points. Martin added 12 points and Betsy Gadziala led the team with 9 rebounds.
“With (Womack) we’ve come to expect the points but I think this early in the season she’s really showing that she’s able to take her game to the next level,” said Palmateer.
The Hawks opened the game strong, not allowing a Lafayette field goal until 9:11 left in the first half as they jumped out to a 21-4 lead. MU dominated in all aspects of the game, with their quickness leaving Lafayette off balance.
“Our intensity level on defense translated into offense,” said Womack. “Our communication was flawless in the beginning. We were talking to each other, making sure we had each other’s backs. Our defensive game plan; we did it down to a T.”
Lafayette came out strong in the second half, cutting the deficit to 9 points with 15:53 to play. After a timeout, The Hawks went on a 9-0 run and never looked back.
MU held a lead as big as 23 and never trailed in the game. The Leopards were held to just 23.6 percent shooting for the contest, while the Hawks shot 39 percent.
“In the past, we’ve kind of had a problem with starting the second half a little bit slower than we start the first half,” said Womack. “That’s kind of something we’re working on and trying to get our mentality to keep the same energy that we’ve had in the first half.”
MU was able to control the boards regardless of the height advantage in favor of Lafayette, out-rebounding the Leopards 44-41. Palmateer says rebounding is one of the teams mainstays, which they have come to count on. Twelve players for the Hawks recorded a rebound.
“For us, we’re going to be undersized a lot but it needs to become a heart and hustle show,” said Palmateer. “We need to be able to execute, and so the size becomes a non-issue when we do the things we know we need to do.”
“Even though we were undersized, I think we made it up by being in the right spot at the right time, communicating at the same time,” said Gadziala. “They were stuck at 4 points for a while and that’s just because we were all over the floor hustling, and even on offense we were pushing the ball so much that I think we got them tired so that helped when we were on defense.”
The Blue and White traveled to Lehigh on Sunday afternoon to conclude the Thanksgiving Challenge.
In two overtimes, the Hawks came away with the victory, 55-50. Chevannah Paalvast led the team with 15 points, scoring 6 in the overtime periods. Two other Hawks were in double figures. Martin added 10 and Danica Dragicevic scored 10 on 5-7 from the field. Gabby Singer led the team with 7 of the team’s 45 rebounds. Monmouth forced 28 turnovers in the game leading to 24 points.
“The heart and hustle show; that’s our biggest strength,” said Palmateer. “We’ll put that up against anybody.”
MU next takes the court Friday, November 30, when they take on High Point in the Navy Classic at 3:30 pm. The tournament is being held in Annapolis, MD.
PHOTO COURTESY of MU Photography
