The women’s basketball Team went 0-2 last weekend in the Navy Classic. After losing 81-74 against High Point on Friday, MU fell to East Carolina in the consolation round on Saturday 64-49 as their record dropped to 2-5.
Against High Point, the Hawks found themselves down early, turning the ball over six times in the first 6 minutes. They were down by as many as 13 points in the first half, but were able to get within 7 by halftime, trailing 35-28.
“We had stretches where we played really well and did some really good things and then we had stretches where we got a little tired and lost track of our fundamentals a little bit and it wound up hurting us on the defensive end,” said head coach Jenny Palmateer.
The Hawks were able to take the lead 43-39, thanks to nine straight points from Abigail Martin after the half. High Point then went on a 15-1 run and MU was never able to get the lead back. They shot 40.9 percent (27-66) from the field and were out rebounded 49-37.
“We were down both games at halftime and we knew we had to come out strong and we knew we had to cut into the lead,” said Martin.
“Whenever Abby gets on a roll like that, it’s an added bonus for us,” said Palmateer. “When she’s playing like she did against High Point, she’s a force to be reckoned with on the inside. We were able to get her some one on one opportunities in the paint and she’s tough to handle down there.”
Chevannah Paalvast had a game high 22 points, while Alysha Womack scored 19 and Martin added 15 of her own, all in the second half. Paalvast and Martin each had a team high eight rebounds.
In the consolation game on Saturday, the Blue and White faced an East Carolina team that was in control from the start. Much like the first game, MU came out flat, finding themselves down 14-2 after 7 minutes of play and six team turnovers.
The Hawks faced a deficit as large as 21, but only trailed by 6 with eight minutes to play. They never got any closer as ECU pulled away down the stretch, scoring 17 of the games final 25 points as the Hawks were defeated 64-49.
MU shot just 14-44 from the floor (31.8%) and turned the ball over 22 times.
“I’m really happy with the fight that we’ve shown, but we need to be able to consistently show that fight for 40 minutes,” Palmateer said. “Right now we haven’t really put together a complete game yet.”
“We take away the points that were really good this weekend and we learn from the bad ones,” said Martin. “We know we can compete at a high level and we can go out there and let other teams know who Monmouth is and what we can do.”
Womack led MU with a 19 point effort and Paalvast scored 10 of her own. Paalvast, Martin, and Sara English led the team with 4 rebounds apiece.
With her performance, 32 points and 12 rebounds over the two games, Paalvast was named to the Navy Classic All-Tournament Team. “Chevy (Paalvast) played really, really well this weekend and I was glad to see that,” said Coach Palmateer. “We’re going to count on her a lot, especially on the offensive end and we need her to be able to be somebody that we can consistently count on. The two back to back games here she showed that she is very capable of being that person for us.”
PHOTO COURTESY of MU Photography
