A klunker for MU women/for Thursday Press
Well...at least there were some fans there..
By TONY GRAHAM
STAFF WRITER
WEST LONG BRANCH - Marquita Thompson of Long Island University reached in
and snatched the ball away from Lindsey Zegowitz of Monmouth.
Monmouth's Marisa Jimenez drove cleanly to the basket and banked the
the attempt off
the front rim.
Late in the Northeast Conference game Wednesday LIU's Sonya Coleman drove
unmolested down the lane for a layup as if she was playing alone in her back yard.
That's the kind of a night it was for Monmouth as LIU, which began the
evening the No. 1 defensive team in the Northeast Conference (58.7 ppg.) mastered
the Hawks at both end of the Boylan Gym floor, 64-50.
The point total was the lowest for Monmouth (7-5, 1-1) in an NEC game
since losing 66-50 at Robert Morris on Feb. 12, 2005.
""Offensively we weren't getting any movement,''said
Monmouth junior Veronica Randolph who ended with two free throws
after scoring a career high 26 points Sunday vs. Lafayette.
""There was no ball movement, no good looks,'' said Randolph who shot 0-7
from the floor failing on all four of her 3-point attempts.
""We told our players Randolph had been going off the last couple of games,''
said coach Stephanie
Gaitley of LIU (8-5, 2-1).
Her son, "Dutch,'' is a red-shirt freshman on the
Monmouth men's team.
""We said, We need to set the tone, right from the beginning defensively,'
'' said Gaitley. ""Which I thought we did. We struggled offensively but we
set the tone defensively.''
Monmouth had hoped to avenge the 80-70 home floor defeat at the hands of
LIU which snuffed out its 2005-2006 season in the first round of the NEC
Tournament.
""Before we came out we said we wanted to get revenge against them,'' said
Randolph. ""But, obviously, when we came out, we didn't put forth enough
effort.''
Monmouth, which shot 16-for-50 from the floor (32 percent) was further
hampered by only eight assists with 16 turnovers leading to 17 LIU points.
Monmouth missed 13 layups in the second
half alone.
Leading 30-26 early in the second half, LIU's Valerie Nainima
scored seven straight points opening a
37-26 lead and Monmouth was never a serious threat there after.
""Truthfully, we weren't ready,'' said Michele Baxter, Monmouth coach. ""I
don't know if it was nerves coming in, which I hope not.
""I thought from the beginning we let them break us down defensively and we
missed a lot of easy stuff inside.''
Nainima's 14 points topped all scorers while Lakia Barber had eight points to
lead Monmouth.
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
By TONY GRAHAM
STAFF WRITER
WEST LONG BRANCH - Marquita Thompson of Long Island University reached in
and snatched the ball away from Lindsey Zegowitz of Monmouth.
Monmouth's Marisa Jimenez drove cleanly to the basket and banked the
the attempt off
the front rim.
Late in the Northeast Conference game Wednesday LIU's Sonya Coleman drove
unmolested down the lane for a layup as if she was playing alone in her back yard.
That's the kind of a night it was for Monmouth as LIU, which began the
evening the No. 1 defensive team in the Northeast Conference (58.7 ppg.) mastered
the Hawks at both end of the Boylan Gym floor, 64-50.
The point total was the lowest for Monmouth (7-5, 1-1) in an NEC game
since losing 66-50 at Robert Morris on Feb. 12, 2005.
""Offensively we weren't getting any movement,''said
Monmouth junior Veronica Randolph who ended with two free throws
after scoring a career high 26 points Sunday vs. Lafayette.
""There was no ball movement, no good looks,'' said Randolph who shot 0-7
from the floor failing on all four of her 3-point attempts.
""We told our players Randolph had been going off the last couple of games,''
said coach Stephanie
Gaitley of LIU (8-5, 2-1).
Her son, "Dutch,'' is a red-shirt freshman on the
Monmouth men's team.
""We said, We need to set the tone, right from the beginning defensively,'
'' said Gaitley. ""Which I thought we did. We struggled offensively but we
set the tone defensively.''
Monmouth had hoped to avenge the 80-70 home floor defeat at the hands of
LIU which snuffed out its 2005-2006 season in the first round of the NEC
Tournament.
""Before we came out we said we wanted to get revenge against them,'' said
Randolph. ""But, obviously, when we came out, we didn't put forth enough
effort.''
Monmouth, which shot 16-for-50 from the floor (32 percent) was further
hampered by only eight assists with 16 turnovers leading to 17 LIU points.
Monmouth missed 13 layups in the second
half alone.
Leading 30-26 early in the second half, LIU's Valerie Nainima
scored seven straight points opening a
37-26 lead and Monmouth was never a serious threat there after.
""Truthfully, we weren't ready,'' said Michele Baxter, Monmouth coach. ""I
don't know if it was nerves coming in, which I hope not.
""I thought from the beginning we let them break us down defensively and we
missed a lot of easy stuff inside.''
Nainima's 14 points topped all scorers while Lakia Barber had eight points to
lead Monmouth.
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
posted by Tony Graham at 9:40 PM
6 Comments:
A few thoughts. MU's lack of a development of a proven, go to scorer, really hurt in this one. Once MU fell behind there was no one to really depend on to bring them back.
Jennifer Bender could be that player, at least down low, but she struggled as well tonight.
LIU played very "in your face" defense, was tougher and more physical, and Monmouth also gave up too many layups, the same problem that was damaging in the loss to LIU in the 2006 NEC Tournament.
MU has some athletes, but still lacks some physical presence. It's not a bad team at all, but has a ways to go to, as I noted in my earlier opinion on the blog, to make a serious run at the top.
At least that's the way it appears for now though I think players like Bender, Lakia Barber, and Brooke McElroy are far from their peak.
According to my records McElroy has hit all of her last seven 3-point attempts covering the last five games.
To be completely honest, Bender and Randolph should definitely get some more playing time. Bender is a much better player than Zegowitz is, but the only reason the two are even compariable is that Bender is not as good on defense and often gets into some foul trouble. Randolph is a good all around player and I was glad to see her, along with Ferdinand, start tonight.
Was not in attendance but did listen to the game on the X.
Actually, I thought Jen's defense wasn't bad tonight while she was in there, though having said that , she did she did get in foul trouble, but the whole offense was out of whack and they can't afford a total off night from Veronica.
There is something to be said for Jen's coming off the bench as it gives MU a double figure scorer in that role, but, maybe it's time to see how she fares with expanded minutes.
Giving up 64 points is exactly the MU defensive average, so that was just part of the problem in this game.
Once MU fell behind double figures in the second half I couldn't see LIU folding or Monmouth having enough fire power to make a major run.
Women will collapse as always and finish 5th or 6th in NEC lose probably first round, maybe semis just as they always do. This team is no good, I have seen them play. The combined record of the teams they have beat is awful. Just saying.
I would say "no good" is incorrect. They're not as bad as they played last night. But I agree they're a middle of the pack, though could be somewhat dangerous NEC team.
But I can't see them as a title threat as we speak unless a few players significantly improve - I guess become more consistent would be the accurate assessment - during the course of the next two months.
As I see it, one of their problems is being devoid of a pure shooter.
Yes, thay have women who can make 3's but no one, who when open, is almost a cinch to knock down 40 per cent or more from downtown (Liz Whalen where are you?)
I think they bounce back Saturday and beat the Mount (3-9, 1-1) which gave defending champ Sacred Heart a tough time for a while last night and then they take care of Wagner (1-11, 0-2) Monday.
But after that it's off to Sacred Heart (7-6, 2-0) and Quinnipiac (8-3, 2-0) which could further define their regular season outlook.
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