Monmouth women: Most unbelievable finish I may have ever seen

for Tuesday Press:

By TONY GRAHAM STAFF WRITER

WEST LONG BRANCH … Monmouth University's Charisse Johnson couldn't stop laughing. It
was as if the senior forward couldn't believe what had just happened Monday night at
Boylan Gynasium.

Then again, who could blame her?

""I was struggling all night, so I'm excited I hit the most important shot,'' the
senior forward said.

In what may have been the most incredible ending to a game in the more than 40 years
of college basketball at Boylan Gym, Johnson swished the second of two Monmouth
3-pointers in the final 3.2 seconds to catapult the Hawks to a 62-61 nonconference
victory over St. Peter's.

To make it even more ironic, Monmouth had made just seven of 35 shots from downtown
all season, missing its first eight attempts Monday.

Then junior point guard Brianne Edwards swished a desperation trey from the left
corner to bring Monmouth (2-2) within 61-59.

St. Peter's (2-2) then threw away the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds showing.

""We needed a stop,'' Monmouth coach Michele Baxter said. ""We knew we didn't want to
foul, we knew we had to get a five-second count. We put the pressure on and they ended
up turning the ball over.

""We got what we wanted, the last look of the night.''

What Monmouth didn't get was a set play in its ensuing timeout after thinking it
could take a second timeout, which the team learned it did not have.

""So we had to rush out on the court,'' Baxter said.

""We didn't even have a play,'' Johnson said.

It didn't matter.

Veronica Randolph, who had made Monmouth's other two 3-pointers of the game,
delivered the ball to Johnson, who let it fly from the right wing.

When it went in Johnson was nearly engulfed in a sea of celebrating teammates while
the Peahens looked on in stunned disbelief.

""We said, "Let's get the ball in,'‚'' said Johnson, who nailed her second trey of
the season.

""I saw an opening,'' she said. ""I knew she (Randolph) was going to pass it and I
was ready to shoot.''

""You've got to get a little lucky,'' Baxter said.

Monmouth appeared to need more than luck most of the game when it trailed by 16
points in the first half, then roared back in the second to take a few brief, two-point
leads.

But when St. Peter's dropped in seven free-throw attempts in the final 2:37 and
Monmouth hit a cold spell, the outcome appeared decided.

""We just kept our composure and came out strong in the second half,'' Johnson said.
""That's what we knew we had to do.''

Sophomore Jennifer Bender led Monmouth with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Edwards added
11 points.

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