The women’s basketball team defeated the Iona Gaels 75-65 Sunday afternoon at the OceanFirst Bank Center.
Freshman guard Alaina Jarnot led the Hawks with 19 points and five assists, and sophomore guard McKinzee Barker scored 16 with five rebounds. No other Hawk reached double figures in the game.
“I’m really pleased with how we played today,” Monmouth Head Coach Jenny Palmateer said after the game. “I thought it was a great team effort, and we did a really good job of minimizing mistakes.”
After winning the opening tip, the Hawks connected on three 3-point shots to open up a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout. Monmouth continued their hot shooting from beyond the arch, as senior guard Tyese Purvis knocked down their fourth of the quarter coming out of the break. After one quarter of play, the Hawks led 17-9, shooting 57 percent from 3-point range.
Monmouth continued their success into the second quarter, as they went on a 12-4 scoring run, including a 7-0 stretch to force the Gaels to call a timeout with 6:11 remaining in the half. The Monmouth defense had a strong showing in the second quarter, holding Iona scoreless for a stretch of 3:47. Iona did respond, however, embarking on a 10-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 11. The Hawks closed the half strong, as Purvis hit a three, and then Graham converted on a three-point play, as they went into halftime up 15, 40-25.
For the first half, the Hawks shot 44 percent from the field and 57 percent from three, with Jarnot leading the way, scoring nine points. Purvis had seven, knocking down two 3-point shots. The Monmouth defense also forced 10 turnovers, leading to 11 points on the other end.
Iona came out of halftime red-hot, going on a 7-0 run to force a Monmouth timeout with 7:40 remaining in the third. The Hawks opened their lead back up to 12, as they received baskets from three different players to make the score 48-36 at the media timeout of the third quarter. Iona responded again, holding Monmouth scoreless for almost three minutes, and cutting the deficit to four. The Hawks closed the quarter strong, with the score 55-48 after three.
Iona continued to battle back in the fourth quarter, as they capitalized on a few Monmouth turnovers to make the score 61-56 with 4:43 remaining in the game. The Hawks opened the game up one final time, as they built a 10-point lead with 1:18 remaining, and then sealed the victory on six free throws from Barker.
“I’m very proud of how everyone played today,” Barker said after the game. “Defense was our main goal coming into today. Some of our freshman, including Alaina Jarnot, really stepped up. She hit some big shots for us today.”
For the game, the Hawks shot 48 percent from the field and 55 percent from three, forcing 17 turnovers while scoring 15 points off of those turnovers.
The win was the second in a row for the Hawks, as they were coming off of a 58-42 victory over Saint Peter’s Friday night at the Yanitelli Center.
Freshman guard Kayla Shaw scored 12 points, all on 3-point shots, and senior guard Helena Kurt scored 11. Freshman forward Taylor Nason was the only other Hawk to score in double figures with 10 points.
The Hawks never trailed in the game, holding the Peacocks to 27 percent shooting from the field and 15 percent from three, both season lows for opponents. Monmouth also forced 24 turnovers in the game.
“That was a great road win for us,” Palmateer said after the game. “We needed that one to get back on the winning side of things. I was really happy with our ability to stick to our game plan from start to finish.”
These two wins snapped a three-game losing streak for the Hawks, who improved to 12-12 on the season, with a 7-8 record in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. Monmouth returns to action Thursday, as they host Manhattan at the OceanFirst Bank Center. Tip is set for 5 p.m., with the game being available on ESPN3 and WMCX 88.9 FM.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University Athletics
