Rochester, MN March 10, 2022 – After a heartbreaking defeat yesterday against North County C.C., the Monroe Express women's basketball team had one more opportunity to put an exclamation point on their program's record-breaking season at Rochester Regional Sports Center on Thursday morning. The #6 nationally ranked Monroe Express women's basketball team responded from the opening tip and utilized a solid second-half effort to upend #2 nationally ranked Northland Community & Technical College, 61-46, in the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship Consolation game. 
 
The Express's first-ever victory over a top-three opponent improves their record to 22-8 while the Pioneers fall to 15-11. The 22 victories are a single-season record for the Monroe Express women's basketball program who, defeated five top 10 opponents this season, also a program-best.
 
Freshman Nyeira Spady (New Rochelle, New York) spearheaded the offensive effort with a game-high 19 points and missing her team-leading eighth double-double by one with nine rebounds. Sophomore Tariah Bryant (Brooklyn, New York) chipped in with 12 points and distributed a team-high five assists. Freshman Maria Negron (Bronx, New York) and Bryant led the Express defensively, with Negron hauling down a game-best tied 12 rebounds and swatting away five shots also a game-best while Bryant snatched a game-high seven steals.

The Express defense was suffocating, holding Northland to 28.3% shooting from the field (17-for-60), including 14.3% in the second quarter and 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Monroe-Bronx scored 26 points off of 27 turnovers and outscored Northland 26-8 in the paint.
 
Thursday morning's lead-off matchup saw both squads shoot lights out in two of the four quarters while Monroe-Bronx held Northland Community & Technical College to single digits with eight points in the second and six in the fourth. Northland Community & Technical College shot 53.8% (7-for-13), and Monroe-Bronx put up 46.2% shooting (6-for-13) in the first quarter, producing 31 combined points. The Express recorded five of the game's first seven points, then the Pioneers responded with an 11-2 run to build a six-point lead, 13-7 at 3:04 on a Tessani Peterson jumper. Taina Maldonado (New York, New York) scored four straight points for the Express on a three-pointer at 2:26 and went 1-for-2 at the line to cut the deficit to two, 13-11 at 1:56. After a Tessani Peterson layup with 47 seconds made it 16-11, Spady rang up the final four points of the period on a layup with 35 seconds left and a jumper with a second remaining to trim the deficit to 16-15 after one.
 
The second quarter was a seesaw battle between both squads featuring five lead changes and two ties. First, Mariame Gueye (Harlem, New York) put the Express back in front 18-16 at 8:53 on a three-pointer, then Macy Skyberg responded with a jumper at 7:50 to give the Pioneers the lead 19-18. Then, after Kryshana Levy (Bronx, New York) and Vivian Coan both went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to tie it at 19 at the 7:08 and put the Northland back in front 20-19 at 5:45, Monroe-Bronx would close out the quarter on a 10-4 run capped off by a Spady layup with nine seconds left to make it 29-24 at halftime.
 
The Express refused to relinquish their lead in the third quarter as the Pioneers got the deficit down to four points, 35-31 at 5:40 on a pair of Macy Skyberg free throws before Monroe-Bronx scored six of the following eight points to lead by eight, 41-33 at 3:09 on a Bryant layup. Northland got within four one more time at 1:33, 43-39 on a Kasey Stegman jumper before the Express posted five of the final six points to extend their lead back to eight, 48-40 going into the final stanza.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Express ran away with the game, holding the Pioneers to six points and scoring the first five to get their lead to double digits for the first time, 53-40 at 8:41 on Spady's three-pointer. They would build it to its biggest mark of the game, 15, 61-46, with 53 seconds left on an Adriana Aybar (Bronx, New York) jumper. They would ride the result to the final buzzer to win their NJCAA Consolation game.
 
For Northland, Macy Skyberg led all scorers with 16 points, and Kacey Stefan's contributed 14 points of her own. Jackie Lynn Taflin dished out a game-best six assists and led Northland defensively, bringing down a game-high tied 12 rebounds and gobbling up five steals.
 

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).