Women’s basketball begins with blowout victory
It was a scoring eruption when the St. Joe’s women’s basketball team defeated Niagara University on the road to open their season on Nov. 12. The 93-69 victory marked the most points the Hawks have scored in a game since Dec. 28, 2015 when St. Joe’s beat the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) by a score of 104-45.
Junior Alyssa Monaghan led all scorers with 23 points, shooting a perfect 8-8 from the field and 7-7 from three-point range, something no Hawk has done since Mégan Compain in 1997. As a team, St. Joe’s was 15-20 from beyond the arc as junior Kristalyn Baisden added another five three-point field goals of her own.
“We definitely have three-point shooters,” Head Coach Cindy Griffin said. “They were playing a zone, so we moved the ball really well. It went inside-outside and when you’re playing against a zone, your shooters have to shoot, and our shooters definitely shot.”
With 2:36 to play in the first quarter, public address announcer Adam Evans called senior Avery Marz’s name as she entered her first career game for St. Joe’s. This was a historic moment for Marz, who has been recovering from a stroke that occurred a week before the beginning of her freshman year.
“I would say the beginning when I first checked in was more so when the nerves hit,” Marz said. “Just the first check in, to hear you name be called and get onto the court, but as soon as I was in, it was just excitement and happiness to be in.”
With 5:57 remaining in the game, Marz pulled up from three and scored her first collegiate points.
“When I finally scored, it was awesome because it was right in front of my bench, so I heard my coaching staff and all my teammates cheer for me,” Marz said. “That was really surreal just to hear their excitement.”
After the Hawks took an early commanding lead, the Purple Eagles managed to cut the deficit to just three points early in the second quarter. St. Joe’s responded with a 14-0 run to take a 36-19 lead.
Niagara was able to slightly outscore St. Joe’s in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the blowout loss handed to them by the Hawks.
Baisden supplied her squad with 19 points in addition to the 14 points junior Sarah Veilleux and senior Adashia Franklyn each added. Franklyn also pulled down 15 rebounds on her way to a double-double and provided excellent defense. St. Joe’s as a team led Niagara in rebounding 38-23.
“Adashia [Frankyln] guards the best post player on the other team, so she’s very contentious about defending and also rebounding,” Griffin said. “The fact that she can put 14 points on the 15 rebounds while holding the other team’s best player under her [scoring] average is terrific. That’s an all-around player right there.”
Although holding the Purple Eagles to just 35.2 percent shooting, Griffin wasn’t happy with the 69 points the team allowed and says that defense is definitely an area of necessary improvement.
“We scored 93, but we gave up almost 70 points,” Griffin said. “That’s an area where we absolutely need to improve on, is defensively.”
The Hawks return to the hardwood to face Bucknell University on the road on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.
