Stockton Photo, Inc.

Box Score

Canisius CAN 11-19

Monmouth MONW 14-16

Canisius CAN

11-19

Final

Mar. 09, 2019

Monmouth MONW

14-16

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Canisius CAN	11	15	18	9	53
Monmouth MONW	10	14	20	20	64

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/9/2019 6:00:00 PM

Women’s Basketball Sees Season End With Quarterfinal Round Loss

Game Recap
The Monmouth frontcourt duo of Lucy Thomas and Alexa Middleton combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds to help lead the fourth-seeded Hawks to a 64-53 win over Canisius Saturday afternoon in the 2019 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinal round at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. With the win, Monmouth (14-16) advances to the tournament's semifinal round where the team will play top-seeded Quinnipiac, while the Golden Griffins see their season end with an 11-19 record.

Thomas posted a game-high 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting, and she also grabbed six rebounds for Monmouth, which shot just 33.3 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from 3-point range in the win. Middleton added a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards, six of which came off the offensive glass, as the Hawks outscored the Blue and Gold 32-16 in the paint and 28-2 on second-chance points. Thomas and Middleton combined to score 16 points in the game's second half, as the Hawks outscored the Griffs 40-27 after intermission.

For Canisius, junior guard D'Jhai Patterson-Ricks scored a team-high 13 points, while sophomore guard Anndea Zeigler chipped in nine points to the losing effort. Senior Sara Hinriksdottir posted eight points and seven rebounds in her final career game as a Griff, while sophomore Danielle Sanderlin added eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks to the effort for Canisius, which shot 32.7 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from 3-point land and a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line for the game.

A pair of free-throws by Zeigler with 4:57 left to play in the fourth quarter got Canisius within one at 52-51, but a 9-2 run by Monmouth over the game's next 4:07 allowed the Hawks to pull away. In that decisive run, Monmouth guard Mckinzee Barker scored four-straight points in the span of 13 seconds to put the Hawks up seven at 60-53 with 56 seconds left in regulation time.

Canisius led 26-24 at the break, and the game was tied at 44-44 after three quarters of play. The Griffs led 44-40 with 1:30 left in the third quarter after Patterson-Ricks knocked down a pair of free-throws, but Monmouth answered with four-straight points to end the third frame, capped by a Middleton lay-up off an offensive rebound with 23 seconds showing on the clock.

Canisius senior Zhane Irby scored seven points to go with two rebounds, two assists and two steals in the loss, while fellow senior Maria Welch four points, three boards, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot in her final collegiate game.

Head Coach Scott Hemer's Postgame Comments
"We talked before the game and in fact for most of the week about making sure we understood that this was all or nothing time, that there was no opportunity this time of year to go back and work on things, that this was it for us and we had to lay it all on the line. At the end of the day only one team walks out of here without a loss from this tournament, from the NCAA tournament one team goes home at the end without a loss and when that final horn went off for us, we wanted to make sure it was on our terms. There were a lot of things we struggled today that we could have done a better job of, but I thought if nothing else they went down together, and I think for our program there is something to be said about that and the direction we would like to go with it."

Game Notes
• With the loss Canisius falls to 7-8 all-time against Monmouth and 0-3 in the MAAC Championship round.
• Saturday's loss was just the first time this season Canisius lost to a MAAC opponent when taking a lead into the second half.
• For the third time this season Canisius was perfect from the free throw line.
• Seniors Zhane Irby, Amanda Schiefen, Maria Welch and Hinriksdottir all played their final games as members of the women's basketball program.
• Patterson-Ricks led the Griffs scoring attack for the 12th time this season and recorded double-figures for the 19th time this season.

Print Friendly Version