The Northeastern women’s basketball team (6-12, 2-6 CAA) lost to the Monmouth University Hawks (13-5, 6-1 CAA) 65-56 on the road Jan. 28. Northeastern outscored Monmouth in the second half 36-29, but the gap in the first half was too much for the Huskies to come back from.
The Huskies and Hawks first matched up Jan. 11 at the Cabot Center, where Northeastern pulled away with a 72-67 win. Monmouth has won every other conference matchup this season and currently sits in second behind the undefeated College of Charleston Cougars in CAA standings.
Sophomore guard Camryn Collins led the team in scoring with 14 points and snagged three rebounds and a steal. Freshman guard Kailee Beaudion-Foliaki and sophomore forward Justice Tramble scored 10 points each. Despite only playing for 15 minutes, sophomore center Alyssa Staten led the Huskies in rebounds with nine, five more than the next closest player on the team.
The Huskies struggled from deep, only making three of 19 3-pointer attempts, and shot a weak 34% from the field, only making 18 of 53 attempts. Luckily, the Huskies improved from 53.3% at the free throw line from their previous game to 89.5% against the Hawks. The game was full of turnovers for both teams with 16 each, but Monmouth capitalized the most, scoring 16 points off turnovers to Northeastern’s 13.
The Hawks won the tip, but Northeastern struck first off a putback layup from Tramble in what was a slow start for both teams. In the first three and a half minutes, the score was only 4-2 Northeastern until the Hawks went on a seven-point run. A jumper for Collins broke up the streak for a moment, but it was answered with three additional points for the Hawks.
The teams exchanged three points each until Monmouth collected its sixth foul of the quarter with 1:20 to go, sending Collins to the line, where she made both. Foul trouble was not limited to the Hawks, as Northeastern committed its fifth foul with 21 seconds left, giving Monmouth a free point and ending the quarter with the Hawks leading 18-11.
Monmouth began scoring in the second quarter with a layup, but a minute and a half into the quarter, the Hawks had already collected three turnovers. Despite repeatedly gaining possession, Northeastern failed to capitalize, scoring its first points of the quarter on a layup with under seven minutes to go, answering a Hawks jumper and bringing the score to 22-13. Monmouth was on fire in the beginning of the quarter, making six of its first seven attempts to increase its lead to 32-15 with just over four minutes to go as the game headed into a media timeout.
Out of the timeout, sophomore guard Morgan Matthews hit her third 3-pointer of the season to bring the score to 32-18. The teams exchanged baskets before both teams were scoreless for the last two minutes, and they headed into the locker room with the score 36-20 Monmouth.
Monmouth struck 11 seconds into the quarter with a layup that was answered with a seven-point run for Northeastern, cutting the Hawks’ lead to 38-27. The teams went back-and-forth before Monmouth earned its fifth foul of the quarter with over three minutes to go. Beaudion-Foliaki was sent to the line and sunk both her shots to cut Monmouth’s lead down to single digits at 44-36.
The Hawks’ next points came off a 3-pointer from a fourth-chance shot after the Huskies failed to rebound. The teams added two points each to end the quarter 49-38 in Monmouth’s favor.
Sixteen seconds into the final quarter, Monmouth collected its first foul, where Beaudion-Foliaki scored both baskets. The Hawks scored a layup and a foul shot to quickly erase any progress the Huskies made. After back-and-forth action, junior guard Yirsy Quéliz hit a 3-pointer with six minutes to go, cutting Monmouth’s lead down to eight. The Hawks then hit a layup before a long break from a contested call.
During the break, Monmouth played “Shipping Up To Boston.” Whether it was a poor song choice or intended to anger the Huskies, the Huskies then scored two more foul shots and a layup to cut the lead down to six.
The end of the quarter was almost all Monmouth: The team outscored Northeastern six to three in the closing minutes to end the game 65-59, giving the Hawks the victory.
Northeastern is back in action against the Drexel Dragons (11-7, 4-3 CAA) Feb. 1 in the National Girls and Women in Sports game at 1 p.m. in the Cabot Center.
