Monmouth women off to fast start on the court

When Stephanie V. Gaitley took over the Monmouth University women's basketball program, the level of expectations for the Lady Hawks was instantly raised.

The veteran coach brought with her a wealth of experience and a gaudy track record. As the new women's coach at MU, Gaitley entered her 23rd season as a head coach with a 407-233 record and is the alltime winningest coach at two of her previous stops (Richmond and Long Island) and the second winningest coach at her third school (Saint Joseph's).

For those reasons and more, there is a buzz to the Lady Hawks program this winter, and the early results will do very little to extinguish that heightened sense of anticipation that surrounds the program.

The Lady Hawks are off to a fast 4-1 start, and have already captured their first title - the 2008 UTEP Thanksgiving Classic - which they captured by coming back to defeat Utah State in the final, 48-44, at the Don Hoskins Center in El Paso, Texas on Saturday. With the win, the MU women became the first winners of the UTEP tourney title, as last year's inaugural final had to be cancelled due to a power outage.

Down by as many as 12 in the second half, the Lady Hawks were led by TournamentMVP Jennifer Bender, as the senior forward from Staten Island dropped 23 points on the Aggies. Bender's efforts in the final served as a fitting encore after she willed her team to a win in the semifinals with a 22-point, eight-rebound effort in a 54-49 win over host UTEP on Friday.

Following the championship win, Gaitley was quick to praise her team's ability to rise to the occasion - particularly the 6-foot- 1 Bender.

"The team continues to grow, especially on the road and everybody stepped up in a different way tonight," the coach said. "I challenged Jen at halftime and told her that there are going to be games that your shot doesn't fall and she responded tonight. To take a tournament at the host's gym is a testament to where our program is."

With the score tied 34-34 with under eight minutes to go, Monmouth senior forward LaKia Barber put the Hawks in front for good with a strong take to the goal at the 6:31 mark. A pair of Bender buckets put the Hawks up 42- 36 at the 3:50 mark before Utah State cut the lead to 42-40 with 1:52 left in the contest. After the Aggies cut Monmouth's lead to 42-41, Bender converted a pair of free throws with just under 50 seconds left in the game. The Hawks forced a Utah State turnover on the ensuing possession and senior guard Marisa Jimenez found Bender with a long pass to put the Hawks in front 46-41, but the Aggies responded with a three to cut the lead to 46-44.

After Bender missed the front end of a one-and-one, Barber chased down the offensive rebound with 15.5 seconds left and Bender hit two free throws to increase the MU advantage to 48-44.

While Bender led the way with her 23 points and eight rebounds, Barber added nine points and eight boards in the game as the Hawks held the Aggies to 34 percent shooting for the game.

Senior center Laura Forbes (a Monmouth Regional graduate from Eatontown) also played well for the Hawks, who connected on 16-of-24 free throws, including hitting 9-of-12 in the second half.

Against UTEP in the semis, Monmouth held a sustained lead for the majority of the contest until late, when the Miners, who went 28-4 and a perfect 16-0 in Conference USA play last season, trimmed the advantage to 52-49 with 22 seconds left.

However, a few clutch Jimenez free throws iced the game for the Hawks, who once again were praised by their coach following the win.

"I think the kids deserved to win tonight," said Gaitley. "We decided we were going to identify ourselves as a defensive team this season and we did a great job tonight. To keep a team below 50 points on their home court at their own tournament is a great tribute to our defense. We need to get used to playing in this atmosphere as league play approaches."

Indeed, the Hawks will need to play well throughout was promises to be a daunting schedule this year. One of Gaitley's core beliefs is that in order to become a championshiplevel team, you must face championship-level teams throughout the year.

Thus far, the Hawks have responded well to their tough schedule, beating St. Peter's (59-47 in overtime) and Rider (50- 48, also in OT) as well as the two tournament wins, while losing to Iona 53-51. Monmouth returned to yesterday when they visited St. John's in New York City for one of their difficult non-conference games, and will travel to Hamden, Conn. to take on Northeast Conference rival Quinnipiac on Saturday. The Lady Hawks will then be in Teaneck on Monday to face Fairleigh Dickinson in their second NEC affair of the year.

While Gaitley's arrival has some in the Hawks' community dreaming of the team's first NCAA Tournament berth since its first Division I season in 1982-83, the coach has a broader vision for her new team, despite its early success.

"What's in place here is much further ahead than what I walked into at LIU," she said. "I anticipate us not having to get up crawling, but being able to run more quickly than we did there. But it will take time to get it to exactly where I want (the program) to be."

So far, so good.