NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Monroe College Women’s Basketball team’s 2016-17 season has been one of rebirth. On Sunday, the Mustangs defeated ASA College, 66-58, in the Region XV Championship at Westchester Community College. With the win, they improved to 20-6 on the season and took home their first Region XV Championship under Head Coach Ricky Johns. In the 2015-2016 season, the team won only ten games.
The first seven minutes of the game were back and forth. Trailing 12-10 at 3:17, Monroe closed out the quarter with a 7-0 run to lead 17-12. The points came from a three-pointer from Shania Johnson and buckets from Jada Banks and Mercy Amechi.
The largest lead of the half for Monroe came at 5:32 in the second quarter. After a Johnson steal led to a fast break, a pass from Aneisha Lyons led to a Jessica DeGree jumper that made the score 24-16. ASA closed out the half with a 12-3 run to lead, 28-27.
A three-pointer by Camilla Kilinc and a put back from Fatoumata Coulibaly gave Monroe the first five points of the third quarter. The Mustangs took control late in the quarter and led 49-44 after three.
ASA fought back in the fourth and pulled within a single point at 5:51. The Mustangs responded with four points from Johnson. Monroe put the game away late on free throws from Cristina Soriano and Johnson, and went on to a 66-58 victory.
In the win, Johnson and Soriano totaled 19 points. Coulibaly scored ten points on 5-9 shooting, and Lisana Burnett pulled down a game-best 19 rebounds.
The Monroe College Women’s Basketball team has earned an appearance in the District Championship, where they will face Harford Community College on Friday, March 10th, at 5:30 PM.