BROOKLYN – In a battle of nationally ranked teams in Region 15, The No. 6 Monroe University – Bronx women's basketball team defeated No. 14 Kingsborough Community College, 52-48, at Kingsborough Gymnasium on Thursday evening.

The Express earn the regular season sweep over the Wave to advance to 22-4 overall and 11-1 in Region 15 play, good for sole possession of first place in the regional standings. Kingsborough is now 11-6 for the season and 10-3 in the region. 

The key for the evening was the 3-point shooting. Monroe went 8-for-23 (34.8%) from beyond the arc, while the Wave went 0-for-9 on attempts from downtown. The Express' defense forced 35 turnovers and scored 31 points off Kingsborough's miscues. 

"We've been talking all week about bouncing back and taking the lessons we learned from the games in Maine this past weekend," Express Head Coach Damel Ling said. "We knew it was going to a battle against Kingsborough."

The Express and Wave each provided strong defensive pressure early on, limiting the other scoreless until 2:54 into the contest when Aneyah McLamb drilled a free throw to put the Express on the board. Two free throws from Salimah Williams extended Monroe's advantage to 3-0.

 The first field goal did not occur until 3:40 into the contest as a 3-point shot by Beverly Williams extended the Blue and Gold's benefit to 6-0. After Monroe's swarming defense forced a turnover, Beverly Williams took advantage on the offensive end as she received the pass from McLamb and drilled another shot from downtown to make it 9-0 in favor of the Express with 5:40 left in the opening quarter.

The Wave scored their first basket with 4:16 to go in the first stanza as Mariana Richards converted the layup to decrease the Blue and Gold's advantage to 9-2. Later in the frame, Beverly Williams drained her third shot from beyond the arc of the evening to pad Monroe's hold to 14-5 with 2:10 to go. The Wave scored the final three points of the quarter to narrow the Express' cushion to 14-8 after 10 minutes of play. 

Monroe seemed to have things under control in the second quarter as the Express took a 12-point lead on three different occasions, capped off with a pair of free throws from Salimah Williams that made it 27-15 with 2:51 to go before the break. However, Kingsborough fought back with six unanswered points to close out the half which narrowed Monroe's advantage to just six (27-21) heading into the intermission.

Kingsborough pulled to within four twice during the first five minutes of the third quarter but the Express came up with a timely play as McLamb dished the ball out to Lea Tavarez who drained a key triple to extend Monroe's lead to 32-25 with 5:05 left in the frame. 

The Wave did not falter and continued to chip away as a layup by Aneiyah Alexander deflated Monroe's benefit to 33-30 with 3:57 to go in the third. KCC pulled even closer as a jumper by Justinna Boatwright propelled the Wave to within 33-32. It got worse for the Express as Olivia Eugene buried a jumper to give the Wave their first lead of the game at 34-33 with 2:47 left. After Monroe couldn't score on its offensive possession, Alexander capitalized on a jump shot that extended Kingsborough's advantage to 36-33 with 2:16 remaining in the third stanza. 

Monroe regained its composure and finished the quarter on a 6-2 run. The highlight play was an offensive rebound and then a putback bucket by Jazmyne Rios that shrunk Monroe's deficit to 38-37 with 1:13 to go. Then, in the closing seconds, McLamb connected on a jumper that gave Monroe – Bronx a 39-38 edge with two ticks on the clock and that was the score heading into the final period of regulation play. 

Less than a minute into the fourth stanza, McLamb converted a pair of free throws to extend Monroe's lead to three. Later, the Express protected a 44-41 advantage and was able to inflate it thanks to a key triple from the corner by Rios which gave Monroe a six-point cushion with 5:18 remaining. 

Kingsborough did not go away as the home team chipped away in the battle of great defenses. Fast forward to 29 seconds remaining when Richards provided a layup to cut Monroe's lead to 49-46. On the Express' next possession, Salimah Williams was intentionally fouled. She went 1-for-2 from the line to make it a two-possession game at 50-46 with 22 seconds remaining. Kingsborough continued to make things suspenseful for the Blue and Gold as Richards executed another layup to trim Monroe's edge to 50-48 with 18 seconds left on the clock. 

Beverly Williams was fouled on purpose and sent to the line with nine seconds left. She connected on the first free throw to extend her team's lead to three. For the second attempt, she once again blocked out all the noise and swished the ball into the net to make it a two-possession game (52-48) in favor of the Express.

 In the closing seconds, Salimah Williams forced a steal just before the buzzer and that clinched the key Region 15 win for the Express. 

Beverly Williams had a big night for Monroe - Bronx with 20 points, four steals, and three rebounds. McLamb generated eight points, eight rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Salimah Williams compiled six points, four boards, four helpers, and a trio of steals. Jaeda Kelly added four caroms, while Rios had just as many rebounds plus three steals.

For Kingsborough, Richards had a double-double with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Alexander tallied 10 points and 11 boards, plus three steals. Boatwright secured 13 caroms, while delivering a trio of assists.

Monroe – Bronx will travel to Valhalla, N.Y. on Saturday for a battle against NJCAA Division II Westchester Community College. Tipoff at Viking Gymnasium is set for 12 p.m. 

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE UNIVERSITY
The athletic program at Monroe University 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 University marching band, 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).