The long anticipated 2020-2021 season for the Monmouth University women’s basketball team began at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey on Friday, Nov. 27. It was a tough matchup that the Hawks eventually lost by a final score of 82-38.
This was a game originally scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 25 that had to be delayed in precaution with the welfare of student-athletes, coaches, and event staff after Monmouth’s most recent testing results on the men’s side.
During the game, the first quarter started strong with solid plays by Monmouth. Freshman forward Gabrielle Wener got the day’s scoring started with her first career points on a three-pointer from beyond the arc. The score after the first was only 19-10 for the Scarlet Knights, but their lead ended up widening in the second and third quarters. The middle quarters saw the Hawks only score 12 points collectively, but they picked up the pace in the fourth and scored 16 during the final quarter.
The box score may suggest that there were few positives for the Hawks, but others feel different. Monmouth Head Coach Jody Craig saw the game in a constructive way, saying, “We had some promising signs in the first and fourth quarters, but we showed our inexperience against their pressure.”
Monmouth started three freshmen against the Scarlet Knights: guard Ariana Vanderhoop, forward Gabrielle Wener, and center Belle Kranbuhl. Two additional freshmen contributed off the Monmouth bench as the freshmen combined for 25 of Monmouth’s 38 points. An optimistic statistic that is indicative of the potential that is on this roster.
Freshman guard Jania Hall from St. Vincent Pallotti in Gaithersburg, Maryland was one of the scorers off the bench who led the entire team in scoring on Friday night. Hall scored eight points on three field goals, adding a team-high three steals as well.
Junior guard Jen Louro also scored six points on 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range, while Kranbuhl scored six points down low on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Turnovers were a focal point that hurt the Monmouth team, as they caused 42 of the 82 points scored by Rutgers. “In the end, our turnovers killed us and they led to over half of their points,” said Craig. “There is a lot to build on from our first game”.
With Monmouth falling to 0-1 on the early season, it’s time for them to focus on the next game. Craig and the Hawks are looking to secure the ball a little better, and to take better advantage of their opportunities.
On Wednesday Dec. 2, the Hawks will be going against the La Salle Explorers, whom they lost 65-50 to back in 2015. This will be their first home game of the season at the OceanFirst Bank Center, and the first athletic event played on Monmouth’s campus since March. This will be a chance for redemption and improvement for the Lady Hawks who only have two non-conference games left in their shortened schedule.
The Hawks play La Salle on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., which will be available to stream on the ESPN+ app. This matchup is followed by a non-conference home game with Drexel on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2:00 p.m. before entering Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play the following week.
PHOTOS COURTESY of Monmouth/Rutgers Athletics
