The women’s basketball team defeated Fairfield 60-53 in overtime Thursday night at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, CT.
Freshman guard Kayla Shaw hit a three-point shot with less than a second remaining to tie the game at 50, sending the game to overtime. The Hawks would dominate the overtime period, leading them to their fifth conference victory of the season.
“Kayla Shaw is usually our go-to scorer, but she hadn’t hit a shot all day,” Monmouth Head Coach Jenny Palmateer said after the game. “She buried the one that means the most.”
Senior guard Tyese Purvis led the Hawks in scoring with 22 points, with no other Hawk reaching double figures in scoring for the game. Freshman forward Alexa Middleton grabbed 16 rebounds in the game, a career-high.
“For us to get our conference road win against a team like Fairfield is a great victory for us,” Palmateer said. “I think it shows our team is maturing, especially since we didn’t shoot the ball well. To still be able to gut that one out and pull through in the end was huge.”
Fairfield led by as many as 13, coming with 5:00 remaining in the third quarter. Monmouth closed the gap by going on a 12-0 run to go into the fourth quarter down by just one point. Battling back-and-forth in the final ten minutes, it was Shaw’s three that kept Monmouth’s hopes alive and sent the game into overtime. The Hawks outscored the Stags 10-3 during overtime.
With the victory, the Hawks improved to 10-9 on the season, with a 5-5 MAAC record. They hoped to continue their success on Saturday, but they fell to Siena 91-86 in double overtime Saturday afternoon at the OceanFirst Bank Center.
Shaw led the Hawks with 24 points, making seven three-point shots. Purvis scored 12, and sophomore guard McKinzee Barker had 11. Middleton had a double-double in the game, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Hawks saw red-shot shooting from Shaw in the first quarter, as they led by 10 after the first quarter. Siena was able to close the gap, however, as the Hawks led by just one at halftime, 40-39.
The Saints opened up the second half strong, scoring five quick points in the first 1:12 to take their first lead of the game. The teams would battle back and forth for a majority of the third quarter, as the Hawks ended 30 minutes of play up 62-58.
The Saints and the Hawks were neck and neck throughout most of a low-scoring fourth quarter, as Siena took a two-point advantage into the final minute of regulation. With 30 seconds remaining, the Hawks had the ball with a chance to tie the game up at 68. Shaw was able to thread a pass over the top of the defense into the hands of Middleton, who was able to finish on a wide-open layup. The Monmouth defense was able to hold a late push by Siena, as the game went into overtime tied at 68.
Siena controlled most of the overtime period, but Monmouth received five points from Purvis in the final minute, including a three-point shot to tie the game at 77 with 21 seconds remaining in overtime. Neither team was able to score in the final seconds, sending the game into a second overtime period.
The Saints commanded most of the second overtime as well, as they outscored the Hawks 13-9 on their way to seal their ninth victory of the season.
“We’re disappointed,” Palmateer said after the game. “I think we battled really hard in the second half and the overtime period to give ourselves a shot.”
“The positive of this game is that we’re getting used to playing in different scenarios,” Palmateer continued. “This kind of experience for our young players is invaluable.”
With the loss, the Hawks fell to 10-10 on the season, with a 5-6 record in conference play.
They look to bounce back Thursday night, as they host in-state rival Rider. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m., with the game being broadcasted on both ESPN3 and WMCX 88.9 FM.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University Athletics
