Players came off the bench Tuesday night to defeat the Monmouth University Hawks 67-51 when several players on the women's basketball team did not feel well.
Since junior guards Pam Stanfield and Talicia Jackson played under the weather, players such as Sahar Nusseibeh, Liz Leer and Ashley Yencho, who don't normally start, came off the bench and came up big for the Eagles.
For the second straight game, junior forward Nusseibeh came up strong scoring six of her 11 points in the first half, while freshmen Leer and Yencho contributed four and two points during the half, respectively.
"Any time we can get scoring off the bench, it takes a lot pressure off our starters," head coach Melissa McFerrin said.
Senior forward Stephanie N'Garsanet opened the scoring with five points for the Eagles, converting a three-point play and then scoring off an offensive rebound.
After Monmouth briefly took a 4-3 advantage, the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to open up a sizeable lead. Stanfield was in the middle of the action, getting a steal on defense then scoring five of her eight points during the run.
After scoring just six points Saturday night, Liz Hayes bounced right back, leading the Eagles with 11 points in the first half. As a team, the Eagles shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and took a 36-26 lead into halftime.
The Eagles continued to dominate in the second half. The defense clamped down, not giving the Hawks a chance at getting back in the game. The Hawks were held to just over 27 percent shooting for the half and scored only 25 points over the final 20 minutes.
"I thought we were a little more disciplined in the second half about how we guarded them," McFerrin said. "And that was critical."
The Eagles kept the lead in double digits for most of the half and stretched the lead to as large as 19 at one point.
Hayes led all scorers with 18 points, while adding a game high of six assists as well. Nusseibeh and Leer also hit double figures in points, adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The win was the Eagles' third straight and fourth overall out of a total of five games. Their next game is Friday night at home against Morgan State University.
