Monmouth Women’s Basketball went 1-2 over a five-day stretch against CAA opponents, with junior guard Gigi Gamble and junior forward Divine Dibula leading the Hawks scoring through the stretch.
The three-game stint started at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28 against the Northeastern Huskies in the OceanFirst Bank Center; the game was rescheduled from its initial time on Sunday, Jan. 25 due to snow. The scoring opened with a layup from Northeastern’s Justice Tramble, a sophomore forward, just over a minute into play. The Hawks answered right back with a layup of their own from Dibula that was assisted by senior forward Ella Farrelly.
The Huskies took the lead back with 6:36 left on the clock in the first quarter with a jumper from freshman guard Kailee Beaudoin-Foliaki. Monmouth responded with a Dibula jumper just under 30 seconds later and took control of the scoring for the rest of the quarter. Dibula garnered herself five points in the first ten minutes, with Gamble earning herself five points of her own. The quarter ended with the Hawks leading the Huskies 18-11.
Gamble added to Monmouth’s lead just 14 seconds into the second quarter with a layup. She led the Hawks scoring again this quarter, adding seven to their lead. Senior guard Alexis Andrews and freshman guard Kathy Kersaint each put in four points for the Hawks. Monmouth led Northeastern by 16 at halftime, with the score set at 36-20.
The Hawks offense slowed down a bit after halftime but picked back up quickly. Dibula opened the scoring for the third quarter with a layup in the paint just 11 seconds in. The Huskies responded about 80 seconds later with a jumper from sophomore guard Camryn Collins. The Huskies controlled the offense for the next two minutes, until Dibula hit another layup to break up the Huskies scoring. With about five minutes left in the quarter, Gamble got her own layup. Just a minute later, freshman guard Madalena Amaro earned a layup of her own after assisting a few through the first half. Heading into the last ten, the Hawks led the Huskies 49-38.
The last quarter went similar to the third, and Monmouth held on to win over their conference opponent. Gigi Gamble led the Hawks scoring against the Huskies, putting up 24 points over 37 minutes of play. Dibula was second in scoring, putting up 13 points of her own over 31 minutes of play.
The second game came at 7 p.m. on Friday night against the Drexel Dragons. Though the Hawks were coming off a strong win at home, they fell short in a close battle that ended with a final score of 56-53. The momentum seemed to be bouncing between the teams, as well as the score. Gamble led the Hawks scoring once again, however with just 16 points this time. Right behind her, Diblua closely followed with 14 of her own.
The Hawks traveled to Long Island to face the Stony Brook Seawolves at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Monmouth, unfortunately, faced a similar loss in their third and final game of the stretch. The Hawks lost 61-51; their scoring led by Dibula with 15 points. Gamble followed behind her with 12. Though this game was not as tight, Monmouth struggled in a similar fashion.
In both losses, the Hawks struggled with distance shooting; their three-point percentage took a harsh fall from Wednesday’s win. The Hawks shot 26.3% from beyond the arc against the Huskies, but fell to just 17.6% against the Dragons. Against the Seawolves, it went down to 15.0%. Though the initial percentage is not exceptionally high, its effect on the score is.
The Hawks have the opportunity to bounce back this Friday at Hofstra as they take on the Pride at 6 p.m.. The game can be viewed on FloCollege.
