Women’s Basketball came back from being down by ten points in the third quarter to defeat Fairfield 73-63 on Sunday afternoon at the Webster Bank Arena in Fairfield, CT.
Freshman forward Lucy Thomas led the Hawks with 13 points, hitting all three of her three-point shots. Junior guard Rosa Graham scored ten points and had a game-high eight assists, while senior guard McKinzee Barker added ten points off of the bench.
Junior forward Alexa Middleton scored eight points and corralled ten rebounds in her eighth start of the year.
Monmouth hit six of their first seven three-point attempts to go up 20-14 early. That six-point edge would be the largest of the quarter for the Hawks, as Fairfield trimmed the lead down to three by the end of the opening frame, 22-19.
The Stags continued their run into the second quarter, scoring the first seven points to force a Monmouth timeout with 8:08 remaining in the first half, up 26-22.
The scoring slowed down towards halftime, as Fairfield went into the break leading 32-30. Seventeen of the 32 Fairfield points came off of 12 first half Monmouth turnovers.
Fairfield extended their lead to 46-36 in the third quarter, their largest of the game. The Hawks responded with six-straight points to cut the deficit to four, and an and-one play from junior forward Taylor Nason tied the game up at 46, making the run ten-straight points.
Monmouth caught fire from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, as Thomas hit two threes and Barker knocked one down to give Monmouth a 57-50 lead.
The Hawks closed out the Stags from there, outscoring them 27-17 in the quarter to seal their third victory in four games.
“We just had to get disciplined on the defensive end,” said Head Coach Jody Craig. “We were having too many breakdowns and not getting enough opportunities on the offensive end. I found a group at the end that was willing to stay to what our concepts were, and we were able to outplay them in the final stretch.”
For the game, the Hawks shot 53 percent from the field (26-49) and 69 percent from three (11-16). They made ten of 22 free throws on the afternoon (46 percent). Monmouth’s bench outscored Fairfield’s 25-8.
Thomas’s 13-point performance was the tenth time she scored in double figures this season, while Graham and Barker each reached double figures for the third time. Middleton’s ten rebounds was the fifth time this year in which she reached double-digits in rebounding.
Sunday’s victory improved Monmouth’s record to 8-12 on the season and 4-5 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play.
The Hawks will look to win their second in a row and their fourth in five games tomorrow night, as they travel to face Rider.
Tip-off from Lawrenceville, NJ is slated for 7:00 p.m., with the game being broadcasted on ESPN+.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
