LADY JASPERS VENTURE INTO THE GARDEN STATE TONIGHT TO BATTLE RIDER

Riverdale, N.Y. (January 19, 2006)?Just over 24 hours after the men's team defeated a visiting Rider squad, the Lady Jaspers will look to do the same when they travel to Lawrenceville, N.J. to take on the Broncs. Tonight's game is the first of a brief two game road trip that will send the Green & White to Baltimore on Sunday. Tip-off for this evening's game is slated for 7:00 p.m.

Tonight's Game: The Lady Jaspers and Rider get together this evening for a MAAC contest in the Garden State as both sides look to gain some momentum for a late season push. Both Manhattan and Rider will be looking to snap losing streaks and gain an important conference win in the process.

Last Time Out: The Lady Jaspers took a brief break from MAAC play to take on Penn, but came up short in their quest to end a losing streak. Manhattan led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but Penn rallied on the strength of two lengthy runs. Trailing 42-31, the Quakers used a 12-0 spurt to go ahead 43-42. After a three-pointer by Manhattan's Gabrielle Cottrell gave the home team a 45-43 lead, Penn went on a 12-5 run over the following four minutes to take a 57-51 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Another Cottrell long ball cut Penn's lead to 57-54, but Kelly Scott scored with time running down on the shot clock to give Penn 59-54 lead with 26 seconds left. Down 60-57, Manhattan had a chance to tie with six seconds left after a missed foul shot, but Caitlin Flood was unable to get a shot off before time expired.

On the Horizon: Manhattan continues its brief road trip after tonight's game when they head down to Baltimore to take on Loyola for the second time this season. Manhattan will have off the first half of next week, but will return to action at home next Thursday against Canisius.

Fantastic Flood: Junior Caitlin Flood has been a force to be reckoned with the past five games. The forward has scored at least 20 points in four of the Lady Jaspers' last five games. Flood put up 20 points against Iona on 1/6, then scored 21 against Niagara on 1/8. Flood equaled her career high with a 22 point performance against the Greyhounds of Loyola on 1/12. After having a down game at Iona, Flood scored 20 more against Penn.

Nwafili Out For The Year: The Lady Jaspers suffered a tough blow on December 13th when the team learned that guard Joann Nwafili would be lost for the year with a torn ACL. The junior suffered the injury in the second half of Manhattan's 52-42 victory at Siena. Up to this point in the season, Nwafili was averaging 6.8 points per game and was second on team in rebounds per game with 4.8, while starting every game for the Green & White. The injury caused Nwafili to miss a game for the first time since her freshmen year.

Hurting Lady Jaspers: To compound Nwafili's injury, the Lady Jaspers have been bitten by the injury bug this season. Including her injury, which has forced her to miss nine games so far, six other players have combined to miss 19 games due to a variety of aliments, bringing the total to 28 games with Nwafili's injury. Only four players have suited up for every game, Caitlin Flood, Kelly Regan, Gabrielle Cottrell, and Jenna Franciosa.

Series History: Today's game is the 23rd all-time meeting between the two schools. Manhattan has won seven of the last 10 meeting dating back to the 2001-02 season. The Lady Jaspers won all three meetings last year, including a 89-52 win in the first round of the MAAC Tournament.

Scouting Rider: The Broncs come into tonight's game with a 1-16 mark and 0-6 in the MAAC. Rider is led by Kelli Swayer, who is averaging 10.6 points per game, and Janele Henderson with 10.4 points per game. The Broncs feature a balanced scoring attack, with six players averaging more than five points a game. On the glass, Rider is led by Shaunice Parker who pulls down 5.2 rebounds a game. Tonight's home side also has two players, Kara Borel and Ashley Anderson who average 4.6 rebounds per game.

Follow The Game: Fans who cannot make it to the game can follow the game via live stats by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Manhattan University Athletics