Shayne Smith's near-record 36 points and first career double-double powered Monmouth to a 66-51 win at Lawrence Saturday afternoon to keep the Scots in first place in the Midwest Conference through the first third of the conference season.
 
The Scots roared out to a 27-5 first quarter lead – their best defensive quarter in program history – and never trailed after hitting 11 of their 17 shots in the first 10 minutes. The Vikings rallied in the middle two quarters, cutting their 22-point hole down to seven at 48-41 late in the third quarter. Monmouth held off the charge and began to pull away in the final 10 minutes as Smith scored all 25 of Monmouth's second half points.
 
Smith's 36 points was just one shy of the school-record set by Hall of Famer Melissa Jones-Bittner in 2002 and came just three days after Will Carius set the men's program record with a 62-point performance in a Wednesday win over Grinnell. Smith connected on 13 of her 20 shots from the floor which included a 3-for-5 effort from 3-point range and converted 7 of 8 free throws. She also led with 10 rebounds for the first double-double of her career. Carley Turnbull joined Smith in double figures with 12.
 
League-leading Monmouth visits Knox, fourth in the MWC standings, Tuesday night for a 5:30 tipoff.