Monmouth Defeats Canisius in First Round of MAAC Championships
MAAC Sports
ALBANY, N.Y. – Monmouth’s Helena Kurt recorded a game high 22 points in the opening round game to help lead the Hawks to a win versus Canisius. The No. 9 Hawks held off the No. 8 Griffs 68-56 on Thursday morning in the first round of the 2015 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship.
Christina Mitchell scored 14 points and added 5 rebounds while Jasmine Walker contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double in the Hawks win.
Monmouth trailed early in the game until taking a one point lead 5:57 into the half after a Mitchell three pointer. Canisius took back the lead with 4:14 remaining in the first half on free throws by Jasmine Mungo. The Griffs took a lead into halftime, up 24-23. In the second half, the Hawks came out strong taking an 11 point lead at the 13:20 mark and never trailed for the rest of the game after a trey from Sarah Olson. Canisius brought the game within five points at the 7:19 mark on Kayla Hoohuli’s shot from beyond the arc, but Monmouth would lead by double digit points for the remainder of the game to take the win.
Hoohuli scored a team high 18 points, while Crystal Porter added 12 points for the Griffs.
Monmouth will face top seeded Quinnipiac University in the quarterfinals on Friday at 12:00 p.m.
The 2015 MAAC Basketball Championships continue at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. March 5-9. Tickets can be purchased here.
The MAAC will host the NCAA Women's Basketball Sweet Sixteen Albany Regional at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Tickets can be purchased here.
For the full women’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.