After facing College of Charleston on Sunday, Feb. 25, Monmouth moved up to third in the CAA standings with a 11-4 conference record, behind Stony Brook and North Carolina A&T.
Two days prior to facing College of Charleston, the Hawks hosted Drexel, where seniors Ariana Vanderhoop and Kaci Donovan combined for 40 points.
Monmouth took a quick lead in the first quarter, 8-5, but that didn’t last long before Drexel went on a 5-0 run, giving them the lead 10-8 with 3:09 left in the first period. With just over a minute left in the first, Vanderhoop hit a three, and the Hawks took an 11-10 lead after the first.
The second quarter was in the hands of Monmouth once again, as they went on a 9-4 run and took a 20-14 lead. Sophomore Ella Farelly had five points in the stretch. Vanderhoop and Donovan contributed six of the eight points in an 8-2 run for Monmouth, sending them into the half up by ten, 28-18.
Monmouth obtained its largest lead of the game, 31-18, in the third quarter, but that didn’t last for long when the Dragons hit four three pointers and cut the deficit to three, 40-37.
Monmouth came out hot to start the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run, where senior Sandrine Clesca contributed five points. With 5:06 left to play, the Dragons cut the lead to four, 49-45. Monmouth went on a run for themselves, Donovan scoring seven of the game’s next 11 points, which pushed Monmouth’s lead back to 11, 58-47. Over the last 90 seconds, points fluctuated, but Monmouth kept their lead and a pair of free throws from Vanderhoop helped secure their win, 61-55.
Monmouth had a dominating defensive performance, holding Drexel to just 34.8% from the field and 25% in just the first half. Vanderhoop led the Hawks with 21 points, which was her season high, and Donovan right behind with 19.
The Hawks then claimed their fourth straight win, with a win at home against College of Charleston on Feb. 25. Vanderhoop had yet another incredible performance, with a career-high 26 points. The first period was off to a quick and efficient start as Monmouth took a quick 13-4 lead with 6:23 left in the first period. Monmouth hit five three pointers in that stanza, to lead 27-17.
The second quarter was underway when Rosalie Mercille drove home a fast break bucket. This gave Monmouth a 32-17 lead, which was their largest advantage of the game. After trading baskets for the final seven minutes of the second period, Monmouth led 41-31 at the half.
It was Vanderhoop who gave Monmouth the advantage, 43-35 with 6:48 to go in the third quarter. A run from Charleston, then a run from Monmouth adjusted the score to 55-46, with 2:04 to play. The Hawks finished the third with a 57-49 lead.
The fourth quarter was quickly in the hands of the Cougars as they scored the first six points and cut the lead to two, 57-55. Both teams continued to battle it out as Charleston made it a three point game with 5:23 on the clock. The Hawks finished the quarter shooting 7-of-8 from the foul line to secure the 73-63 win.
After averaging 23.5 points per game over the course of two games, Vanderhoop was named CAA Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 26 for the first time in her career.
Monmouth will face Hofstra on Mar. 3, Towson on Mar. 7, and UNCW on Mar. 9, before heading to Washington. D.C., for the CAA Tournament
