Women’s basketball split a weekend series on the road against Saint Peters earning their second win on the season, losing their first matchup by a score 70-60 and taking the home victory in their second game by a score of 63-57.
Freshman center Belle Kranbuhl, got the scoring opened up early with six points in the opening minutes, finishing with eleven on the night. She performed on both ends of the floor as she would also add eight boards and seven rejections to her total for the night. After this performance, she is averaging 3.0 blocks per game, which leads the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). This was also the fourth game that Kranbuhl scored in the double digits.
Saint Peters started to pull away as they were in front at one point by 22 points. However, Monmouth battled back in the second half as they went on an 18-2 run and were able to narrow the lead to just five. However, it would be too little too late as they would fall in the end for their eleventh loss of the season.
We played well enough to win this game,” said head coach Jody Craig, “But shot ourselves in the foot with missed layups, missed free throws and turnovers. We have got to take the next step as a team by being more efficient and actually playing to our potential.”
Monmouth only shot 57 percent from the free throw line and committed 21 turnovers compared to Saint Peter’s 13.
One of the highlights for Monmouth during this matchup was freshman forward Gabrielle Wener who filled up all aspects of the stat sheet. She finished with 14 points, her career-high five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Kranbuhl erupted in the Hawks second matchup of the weekend as she scored 20 points and 16 rebounds in the game. After a weekend where she was named MAAC Rookie of the Week, she followed it up with two great performances.
Monmouth scored their team high in points with 63 in this one and shot their best percentage of the year from the field at 51 percent. Freshman guard Ariana Vanderhoop also dropped ten points, the first time she hit double digits in her short time wearing the blue and white.
Monmouth started the fourth quarter allowing six unanswered points however, Kranbuhl would retaliate with five straight to tie the game back up. Vanderhoop would then make a crucial layup while being fouled with just three minutes left in the contest. She would then connect on the and-one giving the Hawks the lead, which they would hold until the final buzzer.
“I’m so happy for our team getting rewarded for their efforts with a victory,” said Craig, “We finally played with discipline on both ends. We took care of the ball, put up quality shots and rebounded well down the stretch. It was a well-deserved win.”
The Hawks dominated the paint in this game as they scored 42 of their 63 points coming from inside compared to only 18 for Saint Peters.
Kranbuhl is having a stellar start to her rookie campaign as she recorded the Hawk’s first 20-point performance and she had four blocks in the winning effort. Following another phenomenal week, she was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive time.
Next weekend, 2-11 Monmouth heads back on the road against Fairfield, who currently leads the all-time series 12-7
PHOTOS COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
