Maybe the holiday break came at the wrong time for the Monroe Mustangs women's basketball team.   Monroe had a nifty four-game winning streak going into Chirstmas and had a number of elements coming together.  But Monday night at the MAC, in their first game after the layoff, the Mustangs couldn't shake off the rust and missed countless layups and opportunities on their way to a disappointing 71-59 defeat at the hands of ASA.  Monroe is now 11-6 on the season.
 
"This was a bad shooting performance and a tough loss for a coach to watch," said Coach James Robinson, Jr.  "We had looked very good before the holiday and so this was disappointing."
 
The numbers backed up Coach Robb's contention.  Monroe was outrebounded 44 to 25.  Also, the Avengers shot 52.4% while the Mustangs could only manage 30.6% from the field.
 
Particularly frustrating to the coach was Monroe's advantage in turnovers, causing a whopping 31 while only turning it over 12 times.  Yet they could not capitalize.
 
"We had good pressure on the ball but couldn't benefit from it," Coach Robinson said.  "On the positive side, we have a game this Thursday and a couple in Rhode Island this weekend that I think we can win.  But to do that we certainly will have to play better than we did tonight."