West Long Branch, N.J. / Recreation and Athletic Center-The Robert Morris University women's basketball team scored 22 points off of turnovers in a 62-45 win at Monmouth University on Saturday afternoon. The Colonials shot 51.2 percent in a Northeast Conference game for the fourth time this season, improving to 12-7 overall and 7-1 in league contests. Monmouth slips to 9-10 and 4-4 in conference play.
Senior guard Angela Pace (Westchester, N.Y. / Woodlands (Monroe College)) and sophomore forward Mary Durojaye (London, England / English National U-20) tied for team-high scoring honors with 12 apiece.
Three other players - Monica Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Woodland Hills (Howard College)), Kristine Silaraja (Ventspils, Latvia / Ventspils (Barton County)) and Bianca Hooten (Canton, Ohio / Canton-McKinley (Bowling Green)) - each had nine points.
A long scoreless streak for the Hawks allowed the Colonials to go on a 7-0 run to open the second half, pushing the margin to 33-14 before the Hawks got their first basket 4:16 in. Robert Morris pushed the lead to as many as 23, 43-20, on a Pace jumper with 11:46 left to play.
The Hawks tried to mount a comeback, going on a 19-11 run with three-pointers by Gabby Singer and Alysha Womack chopping the lead to 54-39 with 5:44 to play. RMU, however, stiffened and allowed just six more points down the stretch run as they closed the game out, 62-45.
The Colonials scored the first six points of the game, holding the Hawks off the board for the first five minutes when Abby Martin hit two freethrows. Monmouth missed their first eight shots, not hitting a field goal until over seven minutes had passed.
The Hawks cut the lead to 10-9 when Alexis Canady hit a 15-footer with 8:23 left in the second half. Pace responded with a quick hitter on the other end, starting a 9-0 run that found the Colonials leading 19-10 after Jones scored on a fastbreak layup after a steal by Gimeno. That run was the greater part of a 16-5 spurt to end the half with Robert Morris leading 26-14.
The Colonials shot 41.7 percent from the field, tallying 12 points in the paint and getting 16 points off of 14 Monmouth turnovers. The Hawks shot 21.7 percent in the half with 12 of their 23 attempts coming from three-point range.
Alysha Womack led all scorers with 16 points for the Hawks, who finished the game shooting 26.7 percent (16-60), including just 19.4 percent (7-36) from three-point range.
The Colonials return to the Sewall Center on Thursday, January 28, when Long Island visits for a 5:00 p.m. contest.
