NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., January 13, 2018 – The Monroe Express women's basketball team, playing with just five players, held off a late charge to beat Westchester Community College, 58-51 on Saturday at the Monroe Athletic Complex.
 
Led by eight, early points, and 14 total points in the quarter from Tatyana Forde, the Express opened the game on an 11-0 run and led, 18-6, at the end of the first quarter.
 
But the Vikings stormed back in the second, holding Monroe scoreless for the first 7:19 of the second quarter to engineer at 11-0 run of their own. But a couple of late buckets by Forde and Tonaya Hollis helped starve off the run, and the Express headed into halftime with a 23-21 lead.
 
The Vikings quickly tied with game to open the third quarter, but the Express responded with an 8-0 run to take a 31-23 lead. Westchester closed the gap to as small as four, but the Express, who never trailed, took a five point, 41-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Monroe and Westchester went back-and-forth to open the fourth, and while the Vikings were able to cut the deficit to as low as four, the Express held on and pulled out a 58-51 win behind 15 second-half points from Frances Morales.
 
With just available five players, Monroe had to play the last 55 seconds with just four when Tonaya Hollis fouled out, but three free throws from Morales iced the victory for the Express.
 
Tatyana Forde led the Express with 22 points, adding eight rebounds and a steal. Morales and Ariana Jones each recorded the first career double-double, with Morales scoring 15 points, all in the second half, adding 11 assists and six rebounds, while Jones scored 13 points and added 12 boards.
 
Hollis, who fouled out with 55 seconds to play, led the Express on the glass with 19 rebounds.
 
With the win, the Express move to 5-6 on the season. They'll look to get back to .500 on Tuesday, Jan. 16 when they take on Bronx Community College at 6 p.m. the Monroe Athletic Complex.

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of Monroe's Bronx campus has six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level beginning with their inaugural seasons in the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter (@MonroeExpress) and Instagram (@MonroeExpress).