Matchup                    Towson Tigers (10-5, 3-0 CAA) vs. Monmouth Hawks (10-5, 3-1 CAA)
When                         Friday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.
Where                        SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
Stream                       FloCollege
Live Stats                 TowsonTigers.com
Series                        Towson trails the all-time series 2-5
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's basketball team hosts Monmouth in a battle of two top Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) teams on Friday at 7 p.m.
 
The game will stream live on FloCollege. Live stats can be found at TowsonTigers.com.
 
Last Time Out
On Sunday, Towson's Tilda Sjökvist dominated the first and third quarters against UNCW, leading the Tigers with eight points in each. Down 12 after the first few possessions of the fourth, UNCW cut the deficit to six in the closing minutes. Zoli Khalil hit four free throws on two trips to the line in the closing minutes to secure the 79-68 win over the Seahawks.
 
Towson out-shot UNCW from the field, deep and the free throw line, while outscoring the Seahawks in every quarter. The Tigers got 26 points from their bench to the Seahawks' 18.
 
Scouting the Hawks
Monmouth enters SECU Arena on Friday at 10-5 overall and 3-1 through the first two weeks of CAA play. The Tigers and Hawks shared one common opponent in non-conference play, Maryland Eastern Shore. Monmouth fell 71-66 in its third game of the season. The Tigers pulled out an overtime 87-86 win over UMES on Dec. 17, the first win of their current six-game winning streak. The Hawks were picked to finish eighth in the CAA preseason poll and they boast one preseason All-CAA honorable mention in forward Divine Dibula. Monmouth has four players averaging double figures, led by Dibula with 12.1 points per game.
 
Inside the Winning Streak
Towson has won six-straight games dating back to Dec. 17's 87-86 overtime win over Maryland Eastern Shore. It marks the Tigers' first six game winning streak since Feb. 24—March 11, 2023.
 
The Tigers have hit 6.7 three per game while holding opponents to 3.8 during that span. The Black & Gold nabbed 40.8 rebounds per game and are out-rebounding opponents by an average of 5.5 boards per game. Towson has outscored opponents by 4.3 points per game.
 
Shooters Shoot
Towson has hit at least eight threes in ten of 15 games this season. Compare that to last season, when the Black & Gold did so just twice in 32 games.
 
The Tigers hit at least seven triples in all their non-conference wins and are 8-3 in games in which they hit seven or more as a team.
 
The Tigers have three players this season currently averaging at least one made three per game: Tilda Sjökvist (2.2), India Johnston (1.7), Zoli Khalil (1.1). Thalia Shepard is just short of the mark, averaging 0.9 per game. Johnston (1.6) finished as the lone player on last year's squad to eclipse that mark over the full season.
 
1K India
Senior guard India Johnston currently has 983 points, 17 shy of eclipsing 1,000 points in her career. Johnston currently boasts 147 made triples in her fourth season at Towson.
 
Among the Nation's Best
Towson forward Kayla Morris has anchored the Towson defense, averaging 2.80 blocks per game this season. That average is sixth among Division I leaders, and her 42 blocks rank eighth in the nation.
 
Senior guard Tilda Sjökvist currently ranks 27th among national leaders with a 42.31% three-point FG percentage mark.
 
Weekly Honors
India Johnston was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 22. The Delaware native averaged 21.5 points on 59.3% (16-27) shooting in wins over Maryland Eastern Shore and Lehigh. She shot a combined 57.1% (57.1%) from behind the arc in her first two games coming off the bench this season.
 
Johnston posted a career-high 26 points against the Hawks, including 20 in the second half and overtime. She was 10-18 from the field and 5-9 from behind the arc, adding three rebounds, three steals and an assist.
 
Viki Matulevicius earned the CAA Rookie of the Week nod on Nov. 17 after amassing 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-4 mark from behind the arc in the Tigers' Nov. 16 win over Coppin State in 19 minutes off the bench. She added two rebounds and a block in the victory.
 
The redshirt freshman averaged 6.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.7 assists in the Tigers' 2-1 week, shooting 41.2% (7-17) from the field and 55.6% (5-9) from deep.
 
SECU Sellout
Towson University had the first sellout in SECU Arena history on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, as the women's basketball team faced Loyola on STEM Day. A record crowd of 5,209 was announced.
 
It marks the second-consecutive season the Towson women's basketball team has had a program-record-setting crowd at SECU Arena.
 
Southpaws at SECU
The Tigers have three guards this season who are natural left-handed shooters: Thalia Shepard, Asya Lara Barnes and Nadeya Regala.
 
International Flavor
Two young Tigers got a taste for International Basketball Federation (FIBA) basketball this summer.
 
True freshman Asya Lara Barnes played for Turkey in the U18 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, where she led the field in three-point field goals made. Barnes finished seventh overall in shooting efficiency from behind the arc and led Turkey in scoring.
 
Redshirt freshman Viki Matulevicius played for Lithuania in the U20 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, helping the team reach its first-ever championship appearance. She averaged 12.2 points on 43.2% shooting, adding 2.1 assists per game, all of which ranked third on Lithuania's team.
 
League Honors
Senior guard India Johnston earned a 2025-26 Preseason All-CAA Second Team selection after pacing the Tigers with 12.5 points per game on 37.4% shooting from the field, adding a team-best 2.5 assists. The Delaware product was efficient from behind the arc, hitting 52 triples at a 34.7% clip. She added 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 34 minutes per game in 32 games last season.
 
Johnston shot more efficiently in league play during her junior campaign, shooting 38.7% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range against CAA opponents. The senior matched her career-high of 24 in the second round of the CAA Championship last March, accounting for 45.3% of the Tigers' points in the win over the No. 6 Elon Phoenix.
 
Welcoming Coaches
The Tigers have added a couple of new and one familiar face to the staff ahead of the 2025-26 season.
 
Tony DiClemente joined the staff as an assistant coach after serving as associate head coach at Army West Point last season, where he helped lead the Black Knights to 25 wins, the team's second-most in program history. Army earned a berth to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), where the Black Knights won their first-ever Division I postseason game, 59-58, over Bryant.
 
Nick Boboshko returns to Towson as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations, having worked in a similar role at Presbyterian last season. Prior to Presbyterian, Boboshko served as a graduate assistant at Ottawa University in Kansas. The Maryland native graduated from TU in 2023 after being a two-year manager and practice player for the Tigers from 2021-23.
 
Chris Hays joins the Tigers as the assistant director of basketball performance. Hays has held similar strength and conditioning roles at private facilities and other Division I institutions, like Jacksonville and Drexel. The Pennsylvania native previously worked with Coach Harper during her Coppin State tenure (2020-22).
 
Other staff changes include Eric Atkins' elevation to associate head coach and Lorie Khalil's assumption of the general manager role for the 2025-26 season.
 
Last Season's Recap
Towson finished the 2024-25 season at 12-20 overall and 8-10 in CAA play. The Tigers entered the CAA Championship as the No. 11 seed and topped the No. 14 Northeastern Huskies in the opening round. In the second round, the Tigers upset the No. 6 Elon Phoenix, backed by India Johnston's career-high-tying 24 points. The Tigers faced No. 3 Campbell in the quarterfinals, falling to the Camels at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.