NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., February 8, 2022 – Making just her third start of the season,
Aysia Pink made the most of the opportunity, sinking seven three-pointers to help lead the Monroe College Mustangs women's basketball team to a narrow 76-72 victory over Lackawanna College Tuesday evening at the Monroe Athletic Complex. Monroe improves to 13-12 overall with the win, while the Falcons drop to 7-9.
Pink had easily her best game of the season in Tuesday's win, using her seven threes to get to a season-high of 26 points. She also pulled down eight rebounds and stole the ball twice in a productive game for the freshman from Albany.
It was a slow start for both teams to kick off Tuesday's contest, as the Mustangs and Falcons made just one field goal apiece through the first 4:30 before McKeyah Duley hit a three for the Falcons to put them up, 5-4. Gabrielle Jackson then hit a jumper for the visitors to put them up by three, but Pink tied the game with a three for the Mustangs.
Daja Wentz made a jumper, and then Pink hit another longball to make it a 12-7 game. A Nya Morris jumper made it a three-point contest, but
Sara Carvajal-Caro scored four straight for the Mustangs before Daeja Cromartie made the last bucket of the first for Lackawanna to send the game to the second with Monroe up, 16-11.
The pace picked up in the second frame, starting with a 7-0 run for Lackawanna to put the Falcons up, 18-16. Carvajal-Caro then hit from long range to put Monroe back on top, but a three-point play by Gabrielle Jackson gave the lead back to the Falcons.
Naomi Barnwell followed with a three-pointer of her own, but the Falcons then went on to score nine of the next 11 points to take a 30-24 advantage. In the final two minutes, Carvajal-Caro and
Daja Wentz gave the Mustangs four points to get within three, but Duley hit a three with 30 seconds left to send the game to the half with Lackawanna on top, 36-30.
Carvajal-Caro led the Mustangs with 13 points in the half, as well as five rebounds. Pink had eight points and four boards over the first 20 minutes. Barnwell did a little bit of everything with three points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Wentz had four points and a team-high three assists at the break.
The Mustangs opened up the second half on a 10-3 run, including another pair of threes by Pink, to take a 40-39 edge early in the third. Ashante Amos hit a three for Lackawanna to put the visitors back in the lead, but Monroe responded with six straight, including yet another trey by Pink, to take a 46-42 lead. The Falcons made it a two-point game with less than 20 seconds left in the third, but Barnwell made a cutting layup off a feed from Wentz to leave the Mustangs up, 52-48, heading to the fourth.
The Falcons got the first bucket of the fourth, but the Mustangs came back with six straight to take a 58-50 advantage with 7:41 to play. After Monroe went up, 59-52, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to take a 60-59 lead with 4:55 on the clock. Wentz then went to the line and made both shots to put the Mustangs back up by a point. Pink and Wentz both went to the line shorter after, making all four shots for a five-point lead.
Pink then drained her seventh three-pointer of the night to give the Mustangs a 68-60 edge with 2:58 to go. The Falcons made a push and got within five with 1:06 left, but
Tanae Arnold took her time, found a lane and laid it in to make it a seven-point game with just 40.8 remaining. Nya Morris then drained a three for the Falcons, keeping them alive and cutting the deficit to four with 33.5 showing on the clock. The Falcons started to foul, and Wentz made 1-of-2 to push the lead to five. After a stop, Pink was fouled, and she made 1-of-2 herself to leave Monroe up by six with 20.9 to go. The Falcons grabbed the rebound after a pair of misses, and Cromartie drew a foul to go to the line, but after making both chances, the Mustangs were able to run out the clock to hang on for the four-point victory.
Barnwell finished with a double-double in the win, registering 10 points and 12 rebounds to go with four assists and three steals. Carvajal-Caro had a stellar game, scoring 21 points with nine boards. Wentz tallied 13 points with a team-high seven assists, as well as three rebounds, a block and a steal.
The Mustangs are back at it on Thursday, Feb. 10, when they host Putnam Science Academy at the Monroe Athletic Complex. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 14 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
