Monaghan leads women’s basketball against St. Bonaventure
Fresh off of a big 75-49 win against the University of Rhode Island, the Saint Joseph’s University women’s basketball team put on another great performance against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Jan. 29. The Hawks cruised to a 70-53 win over the Bonnies in which St. Joe’s never gave up the lead, with the exception of a mere 19 seconds in which the teams were tied.
St. Joe’s was led by the efforts of sophomore Alyssa Monaghan, who scored a career high 21 points and only left the court for a total of five minutes throughout the entire game. 15 points came from 3-pointers.
“Everyone was setting good screens and I just happened to be someone who was open, so when I got it [the ball] I would just shoot,” Monaghan said.
Coming off the bench, junior Chelsea Woods contributed 18 points, while junior Adashia Franklyn contributed 12.
“I was happy with the way our kids came out today,” Head Coach Cindy Griffin said. “They really came out with a lot of fire. It was a great atmosphere here as we had alumni day, we had a lot of fans in the stands today.”
With the stands full of alumni and young basketball players, St. Joe’s proved they were a force to be reckoned with.
Franklyn set the momentum for the game when she scored 5 unanswered points in the form of two layups and a free throw within the first minute and a half of play.
St. Bonaventure responded with 4 points to bring the score within 1, but Monaghan provided her first 3-pointer of the game at the buzz of the shot clock to keep the Hawks’ lead.
Much of the first half was filled with shots coming off as the shot clock rang for both teams. According to Griffin, this style of play is common in games with the Bonnies.
“They’re [St. Bonaventure] better late in the shot clock than they are early in the shot clock,” Griffin said. “They want to run their motion and get good looks out of it. You have to stay disciplined for the whole 30 seconds.”
Five minutes into the game, the Hawks were crafting their lead as they already led 11-4 thanks to a Woods and-one. Her strength in the paint gave St. Joe’s an edge in the first quarter.
Franklyn added a layup to secure the lead at the end of the first quarter, making the score 15-8.
St. Joe’s scoring in the second quarter was opened up by Woods with a layup, followed by a 3-pointer by sophomore Sarah Veilleux to extend the lead to double digits.
Woods and Monaghan continued to lead the Hawks’ offense with Woods playing to the net and Monaghan draining a trio of 3-pointers in a row to pull ahead 36-18.
Franklyn led the defense, having 3 defensive rebounds and a steal by halftime, keeping a generous lead of 36-22 going into the third quarter.
This defensive success is not out of character for Franklyn, as she holds the record for rebounds per game that she set just under a month ago.
Franklyn opened with a 3-pointer, followed by a pair of Monaghan free throws.
The Bonnies answered with a layup that was quickly followed by layups from Franklyn and Woods to keep the score from getting close.
Veilleux delivered a crowd-pleasing block with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter that was followed by a pair of free throws for the Bonnies as well as Woods.
With a minute and a half left in the period, St. Joe’s seniors Jaryn Garner and Amanda Fioravanti contributed a jumper and a pair of foul shots, respectively, to bring the score to 52-38.
Garner commenced the final quarter’s scoring with a layup in the first minute. Two successful Bonnie free throws brought the score to 54-43 with eight minutes left of play.
The final quarter had less scoring than those prior, with most of the final points coming from free throws. Monaghan contributed 2, sophomore Kristalyn Baisden had 4, and Franklyn had 1.
With that, the Hawks cruised to a conference win with a final score of 70-53.
Griffin was happy with the team’s performance, as the win brings their Atlantic-10 record to 6-3, and their overall to 9-12.
“To be able to play four quarters and really control the tempo was certainly important today,” Griffin stated.
The Hawks sit in sixth place in the A-10 with time to rise in the rankings as seven conference games still remain.
According to Monaghan, the Hawks have turned around a slow start to the season and have improved in recent games.
“When we got in the A-10 games, we really started picking up and playing together as a team,” she said.
Griffin recognized that the team’s scoring could have been better, but claimed that they still put on a stellar performance.
“What this team has really proven is that if a team is coming at us, they are really able to push back,” Griffin said. “We were good at getting loose balls; we had 22 offensive rebounds.”
The Hawks feel confident going into another conference game against Duquesne University at home on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. after a solid win against St. Bonaventure.
“We happened to make more plays today and that’s why we won,” Griffin said.
