Monday night’s game against Monmouth was a “tale of two halves,” according to women’s basketball head coach Tricia Fabbri.
After struggling in the first half, the women’s basketball team outscored Monmouth by five points in the second, but lost 62-56 to the Hawks Monday night at TD Bank Sports Center.
“First half, Monmouth came out and they were picking us apart,” Fabbri said. “We gave up 37 points which is really uncharacteristic for us. The second half, we had Monmouth on our heels and we really had our opportunities to come away with a win tonight.”
Three Bobcats compiled double-doubles on the night, including freshman Brittany McQuain and junior Jacinda Dunbar, who pulled down 10 rebounds a piece. McQuain scored a team-high 15 points, while Dunbar recorded 14.
“Jacinda was great tonight,” Fabbri said. “She got us going, got us believing.”
Within the first three minutes of play, the Hawks went flying on a six-point run and took an 8-4 lead before the Bobcats sank their next jumper at the 15:07 mark.
The Bobcats were unable to score another point until the 11:19 mark. McQuain scored back-to-back 2-pointers to trim the team’s deficit by eight, 18-10.
As the Bobcats trailed 22-14, senior Courtney Kaminski was fouled as she swooshed a 2-pointer. She took advantage on her free throw opportunity and got nothing but net. The Hawks scored two straight 3-pointers to cushion their lead, 33-22.
Sophomore Felicia Barron drained a jump shot with 50 seconds left in the half. Dunbar netted a layup at the halftime buzzer, but the Hawks took a 37-26 lead into the locker room.
Both teams exchanged points in the first four minutes of the second half, scoring four points each.
With 13 minutes remaining, McQuain found Dunbar alone under the hoop for a layup. Dunbar scored four straight points to cut the deficit to eight, 46-38, forcing the Hawks to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Hawks scored off a layup, but the Bobcats went on a nine-point surge to trail by one, 47-48. The Hawks responded with three consecutive 3-pointers.
The Bobcats attempted to catch the Hawks’ lead but walked off the court in defeat and without home-court advantage in the playoffs.
“We’ve got to sew everything up,” Fabbri said. “We just had too many empty minutes in the 40-minute game tonight. We had our opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on them. We just got to learn from this and sew it up and get ready for Saturday’s playoff game.”
The Bobcats will face the Hawks again in a Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinal match-up at the Multipurpose Athletic Center in West Long Branch, N.J. on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Photo credit: Alessia Tranfaglia
