Baltimore, MD - - -Monmouth freshman guard Liz Whalen's baseline, buzzer-beating jumper gave the visiting Hawks a, 58-56, Northeast Conference victory over the UMBC Retrievers, Thursday evening at the Retriever Activities Center. Monmouth improved to 10-7 (5-3 NEC) and UMBC fell to 6-11 (3-5 NEC).
Whalen rebounded a missed three-point attempt by teammate Rashawnah French and was able to beat the buzzer by a fraction of a second from 10 feet away from the right baseline. UMBC had tied the score at 56-56 with just ten seconds remaining on acrobatic, driving lay-up by senior guard Shalayna Johnson.
Their were five ties and seven lead changes in the final 10:11 of the contest. Monmouth led 32-24 at halftime, but the Retrievers tied the game at 42-42 with 10:11 remaining by outscoring the Hawks, 18-10, to open the second half. The Hawks reclaimed the lead at 48-45 with 7:10 remaining, but neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the way. Johnson converted a pair of free throws with 1:28 remaining to tie the score at 54-54. French then nailed a jumper from the foul line to put Monmouth on top 56-54 with 1:15 left. Both teams traded turnovers before Johnson tied the game for the fifth and final time of the second half.
UMBC led 16-15 with 8:38 remaining in the opening half, but the Hawks outscored the Retrievers, 17-8, to grab the eight-point halftime advantage.
Junior center Jewonda Bright scored a team-high 18 points for Monmouth, who shot fifty-seven percent from the floor in the contest. French (11 points) and sophomore guard Erin Winston (10 points) were also in double-figures.
Johnson scored a game-high 22 points for UMBC, who shot forty-two percent for the game. Senior guard Jessie Brown added 19 points and became the 13th player in UMBC history to score 1,000 career points.
