Box Score GRINNELL, Iowa – The Grinnell College women's basketball team got off to a slow start Wednesday and never recovered as Monmouth College defeated the Pioneers 73-55 at Darby Gymnasium.

The Fighting Scots, who improved to 9-3 in the Midwest Conference and 14-3 in all games, scored 10 of the game's first 11 points and led by 19 at halftime.

The Pioneers, who are 6-6 in the league and 7-9 overall, were led by Abby Jaeger's 15 points and four steals. She was a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point land.

Alissa Hirsh '16 added 10 points, six assists and three steals, Michelle Briggs '13 grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with two blocked shots, and Tolu Alabi '13 also blocked two shots.

Zipporah Williams of Monmouth scored a game-high 16 points.

After Monmouth got off to a 10-1 lead, Grinnell got as close as six on a handful of occasions. The last of those was when Briggs hit a layup with 12:34 left in the first half to make it 14-8.

However, the visitors took off and were up 41-22 at intermission.

The Pioneers made one last charge in the second half thanks to a 7-0 run. Trailing by 14 points, Briggs made a jumper, Hirsh sank a layup and Jaeger drained a trey to reduce Monmouth's lead to 48-41 with 10:41 left.

However, the visitors answered with a 9-0 run for a 57-41 lead and never looked back.

Grinnell is back home again Saturday when Lake Forest College visits Darby Gymnasium. Game time is 1 p.m.