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Players from Canisius' women's basketball team celebrate their victory over Monmouth
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
71
Winner Canisius Canis 6-24,3-17 MAAC
65
Monmouth MU 14-16,9-11 MAAC
Winner
Canisius Canis
6-24,3-17 MAAC
71
Final
65
Monmouth MU
14-16,9-11 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Canisius Canis 16 18 16 21 71
Monmouth MU 14 17 15 19 65

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Basketball Advances With Win Over Monmouth in MAAC Championship Opening Round

Canisius sophomore Dani Haskell scored a game-high 26 points and junior Shaunae Brown added 14 points and five rebounds, as the No. 11 seed Golden Griffins defeated No. 6 seed Monmouth 71-65 in the opening round of the 2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Women's Basketball Championship at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., Tuesday afternoon.
 
With the win, Canisius becomes the first No. 11 seed to win a MAAC Women's Basketball Championship game. The Blue and Gold (6-24) advance to meet No. 3 seed Manhattan in the quarterfinal round Thursday at 12 p.m.
 
GAME RECAP
Playing in her first career MAAC Tournament game, Haskell started out red-hot, scoring nine of the Griffs' first 16 points in the opening quarter as the Blue and Gold held a 16-14 lead after the first 10:00 minutes of play. In the second quarter, Canisius used an 8-2 run in the opening 2:26 of the frame to stretch its lead to 23-16. The Hawks (14-16) battled back and eventually tied the game at 26-26 with 2:36 left before intermission, but the Griffs ended the first half by outscoring Monmouth 8-5 to take a 34-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, Haskell and senior Kayla Jackson scored back-to-back buckets 36 seconds apart to drive Canisius' lead to 38-31. Monmouth would not go away however, and eventually took a 45-43 lead with 2:20 left after Jen Louro scored two of her 10 points on the day. Moments later, with the score tied at 46-46, Jackson scored and then Haskell ended the third quarter with a field goal to send Canisius into the fourth quarter with a 50-46 lead.
 
Canisius took its largest lead of the day with 6:48 left to play in the fourth quarter thanks to a quick 5-0 scoring spurt, highlighted by a 3-point field goal off the hand of freshman guard Athina Lexa, that made the score 59-50 in favor of the Blue and Gold. A 3-point field goal by Louro cut the Canisius lead to three at 65-62 with 1:59 remaining, but the Griffs put the game away for good moments later thanks to a traditional three-point play by senior Erika Joseph and a free-throw make by Brown that made the score 69-62 in favor of Canisius with 38.4 seconds remaining.
 
For the game, Canisius shot 48.3 percent from the field, which included a 45 percent (9-for-20) effort from 3-point land. Canisius also made 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, with four of those makes coming in the fourth quarter.
 
Haskell's 26 points came after she went 10-for-17 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range. Eight of Brown's 14 points came after halftime, while Lexa chipped in 10 points and three assists. Jackson led all players with seven rebounds for Canisius, which was out-rebounded by Monmouth for the game by a 33-32 clip.
 
Head Coach Sahar Nusseibeh's Postgame Comments
"I'm extremely proud of our women and their resiliency throughout that entire 40 minutes. This entire season we've bought into the process of progress and it is so great for them to reap the rewards in March.
 
"We had a lot of confidence going into Monmouth the third time. It's really hard to beat a team three times. Our staff really did a great job preparing for Monmouth – Krista Beechy and Jared Zeidman – did a tremendous job on the defensive end, going into game three.
 
"It was no surprise that [Erika Joseph] was the person making that [three-point play]. Erika has been our leader and our anchor all year long. Erika averages the most minutes on our team for a reason. We need Erika on that floor to feel studied and to feel anchored. Erika isn't necessarily dropping 20 points a game, but Erika is doing everything to make sure that we are right here for 40 minutes. Without Erika, this game doesn't happen.
 
GAME NOTES
• Canisius came away with its 10th victory over Monmouth, evening the all-time series at 10-all. It was the first time in four meetings that the Griffs defeated the Hawks at the MAAC Tournament.
• The victory was the program's first at the MAAC Tournament since 2017 – an 80-74 victory over Niagara.
• The Griffs inched closer to the program's single-season 3-point record. The team now has 243 made shots from beyond the arc, which is nine away from tying the program record of 252 established in 2008-09.
• Haskell's 26 points are the most by a Canisius player at the MAAC Tournament since Maria Welch netted 25 off the bench in the victory over Niagara.
• Haskell has scored 20-plus points in each of the team's last three games. She is the first Canisius player with 20 points in at least three consecutive contests since Jénel Stevens' 10-game streak in 2002-03.
• With two 3-pointers, Haskell now has 64 on the season. She is tied with Amanda Cavo (64 in 2006-07) for the eighth-most made 3-pointers in a season. Haskell's 3-point total is also tied for the third-most by a sophomore, tied with Cavo's 2006-07 mark.
• Freshman Rhay Porter, with her five rebounds Tuesday, has 148 rebounds this season, ranking as the fifth-most by a first-year player in Canisius' Division I era. She surpassed Rachel Decker, who had 147 during the 1991-92 season.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will take on No. 3 seed Manhattan in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Women's Basketball Championship Thursday at noon. That game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
For more information on Canisius women's basketball program, follow @GriffsWBB on Instagram and Twitter.
 
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