BROOKLYN – The Monroe College – Bronx women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Region 15-rival Kingsborough Community College, 75-70, at Kingsborough CC Gymnasium on Thursday evening.
 
The Express (14-12, 9-4 Region 15) led by 17 during the early stages of the second half, but the Wave (14-5, 13-4) rallied with a 19-0 run in a span of 4:04 to take the lead and eventually earn the come-from-behind region victory.
 
Leading the way for the Express was freshman guard Daysiah Smith who scored 32 points, forced eight steals, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out five assists. Rookie guard Tiffany Newsome had a productive game with 12 points, seven rebounds, three steals, a pair of assists, and a block.
 
The key factor in the game was the free-throw shooting as the Wave hit 24 shots from the charity stripe out of 47 attempts, while the Express converted only 12 attempts out of just 26 total opportunities from the line.
 
The Express got off to a slow start as a layup by first-year forward Tionna Davis gave the Wave an 11-4 benefit less than five minutes into the contest. However, the Express turned it around as back-to-back layups by Smith sparked a 16-3 run, capped off by a tip-in layup courtesy of freshman guard Jah Gunter, to put Monroe in front, 20-14, with 1:00 to go in the period. 
 
After leading by four after 10 minutes, Monroe's momentum at the end of the first period carried over into the second as the Blue and Gold scored the first 12 points of the stanza, highlighted by two fast-break layups and a pair of free throws from Smith, to give the Express a 32-16 hold with 6:26 to go in the half. Monroe took a 39-26 vantage into the intermission.
 
The Express got off to a good start in the third frame as a layup each from Smith and Newsome gave Monroe its largest lead of the evening at 43-26 with 8:32 left to play in the stanza.
 
From that point, Kingsborough took over the game by scoring 19 straight points which gave them a 45-43 lead in a blink of an eye. Davis scored 12 points during the game-altering blitz, including the final eight points of the run.
 
Monroe did not break as they countered with a 6-0 run, capped off by a layup from sophomore forward Xing Stewart-Greer, to put the visiting team back in front by a score of 49-45 with 3:01 remaining in the third. Later in the period, with the contest tied at 53, Davis converted a layup with 26 seconds to go to allow the Wave to regain the lead at 55-53 which ended up being the score heading into the final period of regulation play.
 
Freshman guard Davian Myers hit two free throws in the opening minute of the fourth to tie the game for the Express at 55. Kingsborough responded by scoring six unanswered points to give them a 61-55 benefit. Over two minutes later, freshman guard Jayden Vega converted a layup to give the Wave their largest lead of the evening at 65-57 with 5:14 remaining in regulation time. Later in the quarter, Monroe got back into it with a 6-0 run thanks to three fast-break layups by Smith to cut Monroe's deficit to two, at 70-68, with just 1:25 remaining in regulation. 
 
After Davis hit a free throw to put Kingsborough up by three, Monroe had an opportunity to tie the game with just over a minute left, but the Blue and Gold committed a turnover.  However, the home team committed a turnover of its own and Monroe had another chance to even up the game. Unfortunately for Monroe, its 3-point attempt with 54 seconds to go rattled off and Kingsborough grabbed the defensive rebound. The Express forced a turnover with 41 seconds left to get the ball again down by three. However, they did not get a shot off because the Express turned the ball over with 36 ticks left on the clock.  The Wave ended up hitting key free throws during the final 35 seconds to clinch the victory.
 
For the evening, Davis led all players with 39 points for the Wave, while grabbing nine rebounds, forcing seven steals, and dishing out a pair of assists. Sophomore forward Murray Nelson brought down 10 boards, scored five points, added two assists, and collected a steal.
 
Monroe – Bronx will continue its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon with a contest at Dutchess Community College. The contest at Falcon Hall Gymnasium will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will not count for the Region 15 standings.

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 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 and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven 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/X (@MonroeExpress), Instagram (@MonroeExpress), and Threads (@MonroeExpress).