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Athina Lexa goes up for a layup against Niagara
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62
Winner Monmouth MU 13-8,8-4 MAAC
52
Canisius Canis 3-20,1-13 MAAC
Winner
Monmouth MU
13-8,8-4 MAAC
62
Final
52
Canisius Canis
3-20,1-13 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Monmouth MU 7 12 14 29 62
Canisius Canis 16 9 11 16 52

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Monmouth's Second-Half Surge Downs Women's Basketball

Monmouth scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and shot 64 percent from the field (18-of-28) in the second half, aiding the Hawks to a 62-52 victory over Canisius in MAAC women's basketball action from the Koessler Athletic Center on Thursday.

Lucy Thomas recorded 16 points and seven rebounds for Monmouth (13-8, 8-4 MAAC), while Jania Hall and Stella Clark chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Freshman Athina Lexa had a career night for the Golden Griffins (3-20, 1-13 MAAC), logging 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Dani Haskell netted 15 points.

GAME RECAP
Canisius jumped out to a 10-2 lead halfway through the first quarter behind five points from graduate student Ella Väätänen.

As a team, Canisius forced nine Monmouth turnovers in the opening quarter, allowing the Blue and Gold to hold a 16-7 lead at the end of the period. Seven of the team's 16 points came off of Monmouth miscues.

Monmouth used an 8-0 run over 2:12 of game action to cut Canisius' lead to just three, 20-17, with 5:33 left in the first half. Haskell responded to the Hawks' string of points with five of her own over 42 seconds — a 3-pointer and fast-break layup — putting the Griffs back up by eight.

Offense came at a premium in the final 4:50 of the half, as each team had a scoreless drought of four-plus minutes. The lone basket in that time frame came on an Ariana Vanderhoop jumper with 27 seconds left in the quarter, trimming Canisius' lead to six, 25-19, going into the locker room.

A Shaunae Brown 3-pointer with 5:56 left in the third quarter snapped Canisius' nine-minute field goal drought, putting the Griffs ahead, 31-29, while also closing a 12-3 Monmouth run.

The Griffs and Hawks exchanged the lead four times and drew the score even thrice in the quarter as Canisius closed out the period on a 5-0 spurt, holding Monmouth scoreless over the final 3:21.

Monmouth's offense came to life in the final quarter, shooting 12-of-16 from the field, outscoring Canisius in the period, 29-16.

A 12-2 Monmouth run over the first 2:27 of the quarter allowed the Hawks to turn their three-point deficit into a seven-point lead, one they would never relinquish. Monmouth shot a perfect 6-for-6 during the stretch.

Lexa scored Canisius' next eight points in just under five minutes, but Monmouth scored 11 out of 15 points late in the quarter to solidify its victory.

Head Coach Sahar Nusseibeh's Postgame Comments
"We just lost to a really tough and very gritty Monmouth team. But I want to thank everybody who made this game possible. This was also our Mental Health Awareness Game, which is really important to our program. Everybody who made that possible, from Megan [Valery], our head dance coach, providing resources at the game, to our external affairs team, providing resources on social media throughout the game. We are grateful for those people. We did lose on paper today, but if we helped one person know that they're not alone in their struggle with mental health, then then it's a win for us. I'm grateful that we were able to have this game as a platform and a vehicle to raise awareness for the importance of mental health and to know that it's more than okay to not be okay and to provide resources for those who may need it.

"They're [Monmouth] tremendously coached. They kept their energy for 40 minutes and they not only kept it, they cranked it up that fourth quarter. We turned the ball over early, which gave them early momentum and confidence. They're a veteran team. They've got a lot of experience on their roster and they know when they get momentum going, they're going to do everything in their power not to lose it and that's exactly what they did, so hats off to them in that last 10 minutes specifically. We were up three going into the fourth and the first three minutes in that fourth was a mess in terms of just our lack of focus and them taking advantage of it.

"I'm very impressed with Athina. We understand what a great player she is and she's embraced her role at that '4' spot and we create mismatches with her there. We drew something up with her in the fourth quarter and we said, 'If you score, we're going back to you.' It's kind of until the well runs dry and she did a tremendous job generating buckets, energy, confidence for our team and she did a wonderful job. She knows we trust her with the ball in her hands. When your coaching staff and your teammates are hyping you up to have that ball in your hands, you gain a lot of confidence. With trust comes confidence and the more reps she gets, the more confident she's going to be. She's going to be tough throughout her career.

Game Notes
• Thursday was the 19th all-time meeting between Canisius and Monmouth. With the victory, Monmouth took the advantage in the series, 10-9, while snapping the Griffs' four-game home win streak over the Hawks.
• Canisius held Monmouth to 19 points in the first half, the fewest in a half this season. It is the second time in three games the Griffs have allowed 20 or fewer points in a half (20 at Fairfield last Saturday).
• Senior Kayla Jackson recorded her second career multi-block performance, logging a pair of blocks in the second quarter to match her career high set previously on Dec. 11, 2020, against Marist.
• Lexa's seven rebounds are a new single-game high, besting a pair of five-rebound performances against Monmouth (Jan. 22) and Siena (Jan. 29).
• With her 15 points, Haskell has now scored 195 points in her 12 games played at the Koessler Athletic Center. Her 16.3 points-per-game average remains the fourth-highest by a Griff in the last 20 years.

Up Next
Canisius will host Marist in its penultimate home game on Saturday. Tipoff between the Red Foxes and Golden Griffins will be at 1 p.m. The contest will serve as the program's Play4Kay game, presented by Anderson's. Fans attending the contest are asked to wear pink and will receive a pink hat before entry.

For complete coverage of Canisius women's basketball, please follow the Griffs on social media at @GriffsWBB on Instagram and Twitter.
 
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