Monmouth Falls 74-68 in Second Round of WNIT to Cleveland State
Ben Kane
CLEVELAND, OH. (Mar. 23, 2026) – Monmouth’s season came to an end with a 74-68 defeat to Cleveland State in the second round of the WNIT on Monday night.
During Head Coach Cait Wetmore’s best season at the helm, the Hawks (21-12) reached 21 wins for just the fifth time in program history. Monmouth has made it to the second round of the tournament in two of its last three appearances.
Divine Dibula was impressive in the paint, scoring a team-high 26 points alongside 11 rebounds. Junior guard Gigi Gamble poured in 23 points, including five treys. Alexis Andrews was the third and final Hawk to post double-digit figures in scoring, posting 12 points.
Colbi Maples was a point short of a program record, scoring 39 for the Vikings. Isabella Zingaro had 23 on an efficient 9-of-16 scoring display from the field.
Dibula and Maples went back and forth in the opening minutes, scoring eight points each as Monmouth established a 13-10 lead. However, Maple's scoring run didn’t stop there, willing her team to a three-point advantage through the first 10 minutes off the back of 13 points.
The Vikings stretched out to an eight-point advantage in the second quarter before Monmouth got going. A Dibula jab step created enough space for her to knock down the midrange jumper, before a trey from Gamble with 7:45 cut Cleveland State’s advantage to just 24-21. Dibula found herself at the line a minute later and knocked down two at the charity stripe before scoring another two points to cap off the 9-0 run.
Trading swings throughout the third quarter, Monmouth trailed 48-47 heading into the final 10 minutes of action. Still close heading into the final media timeout, Gamble pulled the Hawks ahead 59-57 with her fifth 3-pointer of the game. A handful of lead changes later, and the Hawks found themselves trailing 68-65 with 1:45 on the clock.
Zingaro found her way into the paint for Cleveland State and extended the lead to five, closing out the win.