New Rochelle, NY, February 26, 2021 – Head Coach Jeremy Thompson continued to emphasize throughout the season that his team had unfinished business and was committed to changing the balance of power in Region 15. After the final horn sounded on Saturday afternoon, the top-seeded Monroe Express women's basketball team had one more hurdle to clear as they defeated rival fourth seeded Bronx Community 58-28 to send the program to its first-ever Region 15 Championship game.

The Express's seventh straight victory improves their record to 20-7, with the 20 victories setting a new single-season record surpassing the previous mark from 2019-20 while the Broncos fall to 1-10 to close the season.
 
Freshman Shashauna Ballantyne (Brooklyn, New York) made it count in her first career start of the season leading the Express offensively and defensively with a game-high 14 points and six steals. Classmate Nyeira Spady (New Rochelle, New York) contributed 13 points for her fourth straight double-figure game and team-leading 18th on the year missed her team-leading eighth double-double by a rebound with nine on the night. Freshman Maria Negron (Bronx, New York) hauled down a team-high 11 rebounds and her fourth straight double-digit rebound performance while classmate Taina Maldonado (New York, New York) dished out a career-high five assists.

 The Express registered eight of the first 11 points in the first quarter to construct an 8-3 lead on a Ballantyne layup off a Maldonado steal at 6:20, then Nyla Harris cut the deficit to four at 4:18, 9-5 on a jumper before Maldonado nailed a jumper at the 1:35 mark to give Monroe-Bronx an 11-5 advantage and went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line to make it 12-5 after the first quarter. The hosts put the pedal to the metal in the second quarter scoring the first six points to stretch their lead to double-digits for the first time on the afternoon 18-5 on a Spady layup at 5:58. The Broncos would counter with a 9-0 run to cut that deficit down to four with 1:56 remaining, 18-14 on a Shawnasia Ofaire jumper before the Express recorded four of the last six points to take a 22-16 lead into halftime.
 
Monroe-Bronx came out in the second half looking for the knock-out blow early and landed it immediately, holding Bronx Community College to just 12 points combined in the third and fourth quarters. The Express roared out of the gate with a 12-0 run to begin the third quarter constructing an 18-point lead, 34-16 at 4:38 on a Ballantyne layup and holding the Broncos to seven points in the quarter to lead 42-23 going into the final stanza.
 
Monroe-Bronx held Bronx Community College to five fourth-quarter points building their lead to as large as 32, 56-24 at the 2:49 mark on a Kryshana Levy (Bronx, New York) jumper and cruising the rest of the way to a 58-28 victory.
 
For Bronx Community College, Keyanna Drew led the way with a team-high 12 points and snagged a team-best five steals, while Shawnasia Ofaire brought down a game-high 13 rebounds and Nyla Harris grabbed 12 boards.
 
The Express are in the Region 15 Championship game for the first time in program history and will have to knock off a familiar foe in borough rival Hostos Community College tomorrow, February 27, at noon at the Monroe Athletic Complex. For more information, please visit the Monroe Express Women's Basketball Page.
 

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 36 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports program, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 17 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
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).