FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 9, 2001

MONMOUTH TOPS DENVER 80-68

West Long Branch, N.J. – The Monmouth Hawks had four players score 17 points each, en route to an 80-68 victory over the University of Denver in women’s collegiate basketball action this afternoon, in Boylan Gymnasium.  The win avenges last year’s loss at Denver and evens the Hawks record at 4-4.  Denver drops to 2-6 on the season and are currently suffering through a six-game losing streak.

The Hawks, who shot 53.7% from the floor for the game were led by Rashawnah French (Newark, N.J./West Side), Michelle Cappadona (Atlantic Highlands, N.J./Red Bank Catholic), Jewonda Bright (Norfolk, Va./Norview) and LaToya Thompson (Orange, N.J./Orange), who all posted 17 points.

Cappadona, Bright and French all just missed double-doubles as they collected nine, nine and eight rebounds apiece respectively.  Cappadona added seven assists to her ledger on the afternoon, which moved her into seventh place all-time on the Monmouth career assist list.

With the score tied at 27 at the half, Monmouth came out on fire as the team shot an impressive 69% from the field in the second half.  The defense led the way in the first half, as the Hawks held the Pioneers to 29.4% shooting and had 10 team blocks.  Monmouth ended the game with a total of 14 blocks, which was one block shy of tying the school and NEC record for blocks in a single game.

Despite falling behind for most of the second half, Denver was able to tie the score at 61 with 4:56 remaining.  Monmouth answered the challenge with an 20-8 run to finish the game.

Monmouth returns to action on Wednesday, December 12 when they host St. Peter’s College in a 7 p.m. contest at Boylan Gym.

Box Score
UD 27 41 - 68
MU 27 53 - 80