WEST LONG BRANCH, N. J. – Monmouth scored nine of the last 11 points in the final 83 seconds to defeat Mount St. Mary's 57-50 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Leah Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland/Holy Faith Secondary School) paced the Mount (10-14, 5-9 NEC) with 13 points and nine rebounds while Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, Md./St. Mary's) added 13 points in the loss.

After Gauthier tied the game at 48 by hitting the second of two free throws at 1:41, the Hawks (13-11, 7-6 NEC) rolled off five-straight points. Bender gave Monmouth the lead for good on a jumper at the top of the key with 1:23 left in the contest. Gauthier then missed a 3-pointer with 1:06 on the clock before LaKia Barber scored a runner in the lane and then converted the charity toss at 41.5 seconds for a 55-50 edge. After a Mountaineer turnover, Marisa Jimenez drained two free throws with 14.1 seconds remaining. Westbrooks answered with a basket in the paint with 5.8 ticks left, but Bender sealed the win with two free throws with 4.6 remaining.

Bender and Barber each fueled Monmouth with 18 points apiece. Bender, the current co-Player of the Week, hauled in nine rebounds while Barber grabbed six caroms in the winning effort.

The Hawks had the lead for most of the afternoon, but after a rally by Mount St. Mary's had to score nine of the final 11 points to earn in the win in the final matchup with the Mountaineers at Boylan Gymnasium.

In the first half, Monmouth went on an 11-2 run to take a 13-4 advantage. Marissa Jimenez started the surge with consecutive baskets for a 6-2 lead at 14:46.

After Gauthier hit a jumper at 11 seconds later, the Hawks rolled off the next seven points. Bender started the string of unanswered points by hitting 1 of 2 at the line. Jimenez then hit another jumper at 13:02 before Bender and Barber each scored in the paint to hand Monmouth a 13-4 margin.

The Mount ended the run on a Westbrooks layup at 11:36, but after Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) converted the front end of two charity tosses, the Hawks scored the next six points courtesy of a jumper by Barber and two baskets from Bender for a 19-7 advantage with 7:54 left in the first half.

Mount St. Mary's answered by scoring 11 of the next 16 points to trim the deficit to 24-18 with 2:13 left in the stanza to force Monmouth to call a timeout. Westbrooks paced the Mountaineers in this stretch with five points.

Laura Forbes and Marbely Montas each scored sandwiched in between a Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) jumper to give the Hawks a 28-20 lead going into the locker room.

The Mount scored the first six points of the second half and held the Hawks without a point for the first five minutes and 18 seconds to trim the deficit to 28-26 thanks to two points apiece by Andresson, Gauthier and Oliver. Monmouth answered with five-straight points and the Mountaineers continued to play catch up.

Oliver tied the game at 42 on a layup and Lauren Howell (Quinton, N.J./Sacred Heart) gave Mount St. Mary's its first lead of the afternoon on two free throws at 4:42, her first points of the contest. Monmouth knotted the game at 44 on two charity tosses by Barber at 4:02, but Howell drilled a 3-ball at 3:46 for a 47-46 edge. Barber scored the next four points and Gauthier hit 1 of 2 at the line to square the game at 48, but Monmouth took control in the final 83 seconds to sweep the season series.

Oliver finished with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Mount.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Monday at Knott Arena against St. Francis (N.Y.). Game time is 7 p.m.