Women’s basketball rebounds on Grinnell 

By: Ian Van Anden
Sports Editor

After a crushing loss in overtime against Grinnell on Dec. 6, the women responded well in their second meeting with the Pioneers. Monmouth shot 65 percent from the floor in the second half to lift them to a 79-63 win.

It was the inside presences of junior Ashley Yeast and senior Laura Jahn that proved to be too much for Grinnell. Jahn had 18 points and eight rebounds. As for Yeast, she pulled down a game-high of 18 rebounds and also contributed five points.

The big story of the game was Monmouth’s stellar defense. As a team, MC held the Pioneers to just 33.8 percent from the floor. They also pulled down 35 rebounds on the defensive end, limiting Grinnell’s second-chance opportunities.

Sophomore Melissa Gorski drew the responsibility of shutting down the Midwest Conference’s top scorer Hannah Wolf.

Wolf averages 22.3 points a game for the Pioneers. Gorski, with some help of her teammates, held Wolf to just four points, forcing Grinnell to look elsewhere for a scoring threat.

On the offensive side, Monmouth had four athletes in double digits. Freshman Elise Waldorf scored ten of her 13 points in the second half. In the 25 minutes she spent on the floor, Waldorf scored 13 points, had seven rebounds and six assists.

In the first half it was all Jahn, who had 12 of her 18 points in the first period. Jahn was impossible to defend at times, as the Scots did a good job of movement in the paint to create open passing lanes.

Senior guard Mallory Mulvihill saw her first significant minutes since breaking her hand earlier in the year. Mulvihill had 13 points in 13 minutes of game action. Since the senior went down with her hand injury, freshman Lynsey Barnard has taken over most of the minutes at point guard. Barnard tallied 10 points and three assists against Grinnell.

After Monmouth pulled away late in the second half, head coach Melissa Jones was able to reach deep in her bench and bring in some players to get some game experience. In all, 14 Scots saw game action for Jones.

After all was said and done, it was Monmouth’s dominance on the glass that helped them to victory. The Scots out-rebounded Grinnell 56 to 26 and had more defensive rebounds then Grinnell had overall (35-26).

Next on Monmouth’s schedule is Lawrence University on Friday, Feb. 2, at 5:30 p.m. The game will take place in Monmouth’s Glennie Gym and will be webcast on WMCTV. For more information about the webcast, visit www.midwestconference.tv. This new webcasting system is provided by the Midwest Conference and is subscription-based.