Sophomore Mariyah Laury (Orange, NJ/Orange) led the Knights with a game-high 27 points.  She scored 21 of the 27 after halftime.  Redshirt sophomore Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic) added 17 points and three steals.  Junior Alyssa Mayrose (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) chipped in nine points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to pace the Knights on the glass.

The Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Mayrose put the Knights on the board with a pair of free throws.

Down 11-4, the Knights went on a quick 6-0 run on two lay-ups by Laury and one by Erica McKeithan (Newport News, VA/Heritage) to cut the lead to 11-10, with 13:58 to go in the first half.

Over the next two minutes, the Hawks scored six unanswered points of their own to go back up seven, 17-10.

Monmouth extended its lead to nine, 24-15, with 8:09 to go in the first half to take its largest lead of the half.

However, the Knights responded by scoring 12 unanswered points over a 4:51 stretch to take their first lead of the game, 27-24, on Kayla Killian (Cliffwood Beach, NJ/St. John Vianney)'s old fashion three-point play.

Mayrose started the run at the 7:02 mark in the first half with a lay-up.  Saunders followed with the only three-pointer of the first half for the Knights.  Saunders then scored again on a lay-up before Laury's jumper tied the game at 24.

The Hawks responded by scoring the final six points over the final 1:50 of the half to go into halftime with a 30-27 lead.

Saunders led the Knights in the first half with 12 points.  Mayrose was all over the glass as she led the team with seven first-half rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.  Saunders added three steals on the defensive side of the ball for the Knights. 

The Knights and Hawks each made 11 field goals in the first half.  The only difference was that the Hawks only missed eight shots, while the Knights missed 23 shots.  However, the Knights controlled the glass as they out-rebounded the Hawks, 21-10.

Defensively in the first half, the Knights had six steals and forced 10 turnovers.  The Hawks only had three steals and forced nine turnovers.

The Hawks scored first in the second half on a three-pointer to extend their lead to six before Killian answered with a three-pointer for the Knights to cut the deficit to 33-30, with 17:04 to go in the game.

Monmouth was able to extend its lead and took its largest lead of the game, 43-33, with 11:23 to go before the Knights rallied.

After cutting the lead to six on three different occasions, Laury went to the free throw line on two different trips and made all four free throws to cut the lead to two, 46-44, with 7:04 to go.

The Hawks went back up four three more times over the next 2:30, and Laury connected on two lay-ups and a jumper each time to keep the Knights within two points.

With the Hawks ahead 52-50, the Knights saw Monmouth score six straight points to extend its lead back to eight at 58-50, with 3:08 to go in the game.

The Knights were able to cut the lead to within five on four different occasions before Laury's jumper, with 0:13 left cut the lead to 65-61. 

One free throw by Alysha Womack put the Hawks back up five before Saunders scored a lay-up with 0:03 to go in the game.

The Knights fouled Monmouth's Carly Thibault, and she knocked down both free throws to give the Hawks the 68-63 victory.

For the game, the Hawks shot 46.7 percent (21-for-45) from the field.  The Knights shot a little above their season average as they shot 39.7 percent (23-for-58).

The Knights won the rebounding battle for only the fourth time this season as they out-rebounded the Hawks, 34-28, including 15 on the offensive glass which resulted in 13 second chance points.

The two teams combined for 31 turnovers, with the Knights turning the ball over 15 times and the Hawks 16 times.

The difference in the game was at the free throw line.  The Hawks went to the line 36 times and made 24 of their attempts, while the Knights only went 19 times and converted 14 of their attempts.

"We did a good job on the boards," said Head Coach Pete Cinella.  "We need more players stepping up to be threats.  We also need to find away to keep Monmouth off the free throw line before we play them again Saturday."

Abby Martin led the Hawks with 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the field.  Betsy Gadziala added 11 points.  Chanel Gomez grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Hawks on the glass.

The Knights and Hawks will rematch this Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. down in West Long Branch, NJ as part of the inaugural NEC rivalry week.