Jaspers Fall To Hawks In OT

West Long Branch, NJ - Manhattan women's basketball overcame an 18-point deficit to force overtime Tuesday night against Monmouth, but a basket by the Hawks' Lucy Thomas in the final seconds gave Monmouth the 62-60 win in both teams' first MAAC contest of the season. 

Manhattan falls to 3-6 and 0-1 in league play, while Monmouth improves to 3-5 and 1-0 in the MAAC. 

Highlights:

• Senior guard Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) scored a season-high 20 points in the game, including eight in the third quarter. She added a game-high six assists and four steals. 
• Courtney Warley (West Chester, PA / Bishop Shanahan) contributed 16 points and a team-best nine rebounds on the night, adding three steals and two blocks of her own. 
• Down 18 with 7:29 to go in the third quarter, the Jaspers went on an 11-3 tear sparked by Cajou, who scored her eight third-quarter points in that run to get the Jaspers within 10 to start the fourth. 
• Warley got things going in the final 10 of regulation, connecting in the paint to get the Monmouth lead own to single digits. Cajou hit two free throws, before Lizahya Morgan (East Hartford, CT / Capital Preparatory Magnet) sank a jumper to get Manhattan within four. 
• Monmouth would score the next five, their only points of the quarter, while Manhattan finished the period on a 9-0 run. Down two with 10 seconds to go in the fourth, Cajou found Warley on the block to tie the game at 55 apiece and force overtime.
• Monmouth struck first in OT when Sierra Green scored in the paint to go up two, but a huge steal and layup from Warley brought the Jaspers back even with the Hawks at the 3:20 mark. 
• After Thomas hit two foul shots for Monmouth, Sini Mäkelä (Helsinki, Finland / Mäkelänrinne Sports High) nailed a three from the top left of the key to give the Jaspers a one-point lead under three to play.
• Tied with six seconds to go, Monmouth forced a jump ball to regain possession, setting up Thomas' game-winning shot with four seconds to play. The Jaspers got two shots off before the buzzer, but both were off the mark, and Monmouth took the win as time expired. 
• Manhattan scored 40 points in the paint against the Hawks, as well as 21 points on fastbreaks. 
• Monmouth won the rebounding battle, finishing with a 46-35 advantage, including 19-9 on the offensive boards, leading to 12 second-chance points for the Hawks. 

Up Next:
The Jaspers travel to Nebraska for a Big Ten match-up against the Cornhuskers at noon central time on December 22. It will be the last non-conference game of the season for the Jaspers.