Second-Stanza Surge Lifts Long Island Over Monmouth, 64-50

(boxscore)

1/3/07 -- With four players scoring in double-figures, the Long Island University women’s basketball team kicked off the new year in winning fashion, using an early second-half surge to put away Northeast Conference rival Monmouth, 64-50, at Boylan Gymnasium. The Blackbirds (8-5, 2-1 NEC) came out of the locker room with a vengeance, using an 11-2 half-opening run to extend a two-point halftime edge to 11 points. Freshman Valerie Nainima (Suva, Fiji), the reigning NEC Rookie of the Week, led all scorers with 14 points in just 18 foul-plagued minutes.

Nainima led the second-stanza burst, scoring nine of the run’s 11 points. The 5-foot-5 guard punctuated Long Island’s game-defining drive with a three-pointer that extended the Blackbirds’ lead to double digits for the first time in the game, giving Long Island an 11-point edge with 16 minutes to play.

From there, the Blackbirds’ main goal was to hold off any Monmouth attempt at a comeback. After the Hawks cut their deficit to six, Long Island answered right back by scoring seven of the next nine points. After that, senior Sonya Coleman (Toledo, Ohio) scored five points on an old-fashioned three-point play and a pair of free throws to extend the Long Island cushion to 14 points. Coleman finished with a season-high 12 points, two off of her career high.

The game slowed down as both teams visited the double-bonus by the 10-minute mark of the second half. In total, 50 fouls were call and the differential in the shooting from the charity stripe favored Long Island. The Blackbirds got to the line 31 times, knocking down 23 of those attempts (74 percent). Monmouth made 17 of 24 trips to the free-throw line (70 percent).

Freshman Connie James (Galloway, N.J.), playing in front of a slew of family members, cleaned up on the glass. James swiped a career-high 11 rebounds to pace all players. Monmouth held a narrow edge in rebounds, 37-33, with Veronica Randolph and LaKia Barber each grabbing a team-high seven caroms.

Senior Brittani Kozik (Belle Plaine, Iowa) finished with 10 points for Long Island, including a pair of clutch treys. Classmate Marquita Thompson (Garland, Texas) chipped in 11 points off the bench, adding five boards. Freshman Tessy Hetting (Wiltz, Luxembourg) contributed seven points, working hard to get to the foul line, where she knocked down a troika of free throws.

No player scored in double digits for the Hawks, who fell to 7-5 (1-1 NEC). Barber led Monmouth with eight points.

Long Island will return home to Brooklyn to play at the Wellness, Athletic and Recreation Center for the first time since Dec. 7, when the Blackbirds host the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2:00 p.m. The game will mark the first of four consecutive home contests for Long Island.