On Sunday, Feb. 23, the Monmouth Women’s Basketball (13-12) traveled to New York where they went up against Hofstra University (10-15). In this tough battle between the two teams, the Hawks came up short in the final score of 57-54.
This game is the second encounter between the two teams this season. The first time the two teams met was on Jan. 3, when Hofstra traveled to Monmouth University’s OceanFirst Bank Center. This encounter between the two teams resulted in a loss for the Hawks with a score of 67-75. However, this battle continued as the Hawks traveled to David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in Hempstead, New York.
On this Sunday afternoon, the Hawks started strong with a layup from junior forward Ella Farrelly. The scoring continued with another layup, this time by fifth-year guard Damaris Rodriguez and fifth-year forward Taisha Exanor, lifting the score to 6-0 in the first three minutes. With five minutes remaining in the first quarter, sophomore forward Divine Dibula made a layup, earning the score 8-4, which she later replicated with 2:30 left in the first quarter to bring the score to 10-4. With a successful free-throw from Dibula, the score went up to 11-4 with two minutes left in the first quarter. Hofstra quickly matched this as they went on a 7-0 run to put the score at 11-11 going into the second quarter.
This momentum from Hofstra continued into the second quarter. After points tallied in from Exanor and graduate student and guard Kemari Reynolds, Hofstra matched the score of 14-14 and then took the lead with 6:30 on the clock to lead by two, 16-14. A jumper from Rodriguez and then a three-pointer from Exanor led the Hawks to tie the game 19-19 with 4:24 on the clock. With points tallied in from Exanor, Monmouth was up by one in the third minute, 23-22. A layup made by Dibula sent the Hawks into a 3-point lead of 25-22.
Hofstra caught up with two layups and a three-pointer, setting the score at 29-25 for Hofstra.
The second quarter ended with a layup from Hofstra, pushing their lead further, 31-25.
In the third quarter, the Hawks picked up momentum with points from graduate student and center Belle Kranbuhl, Reynolds, Farrelly, and Rodriguez to cut Hofstra’s lead to only three points by the end of the third quarter. Heading into the fourth quarter, both teams battled it out on the court with big shots. Hofstra’s lead was tested by the Hawks with an 8-0 run from Monmouth within the final minutes of the game, and with just five seconds on the clock, Exanor assisted a Reynolds layup, which tied the score at 54-54. With timeouts taken from both teams, Hofstra’s Emma Von Essen hit a corner three-pointer with two seconds left, ultimately sealing the win for Hofstra, 57-54.
