Riverdale, N.Y. (January 21, 2007)?The women's basketball team will look to win its second straight game this afternoon when they take on Loyola in Baltimore. The Lady Jaspers will look to keep rising up the MAAC standings, and avenge a 66-56 loss to the Greyhounds earlier in the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Today's Game: The Lady Jaspers and Loyola get together this afternoon for the second time this season. In the first meeting in Riverdale, Loyola won 66-56 behind 19 points from Jill Glessner. Manhattan won its second MAAC game Friday night against Rider, while Loyola is riding a three game winning streak, all of which have come in the MAAC.
Last Time Out: The Lady Jaspers defeated Rider for the fourth consecutive time on Friday night. Behind 19 points and 14 rebounds from Caitlin Flood, the Lady Jaspers shot 47 percent in getting the victory. Manhattan used two large first half runs, 12-0 and 11-0 to lead by as many as 21 points in the first half. Rider however, would not go away too easily. The Broncs shot 65 percent in the second half, and closed to within six points with just over a minute remaining. Manhattan though was able to hold Rider off with two foul shots from Gabrielle Cottrell and a defensive stop on Rider's next possession to preserve the victory.
On the Horizon: Following this afternoon's game, Manhattan returns home next Thursday for a MAAC contest against Canisius. After entertaining the Golden Griffs, Manhattan goes back on the road to play Saint Peter's and Fairfield.
They Like To Share: Manhattan assisted on 24 of their 26 made field goals against Rider on Friday night.
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 21 games due to a variety of aliments, bringing the total to 31 games with Nwafili's injury. Only four players have suited up for every game, Caitlin Flood, Kelly Regan, Gabrielle Cottrell, and Jenna Franciosa.
Fantastic Flood: Junior Caitlin Flood has been a force to be reckoned with the past six games. The forward has scored at least 20 points in four of the Lady Jaspers' last six 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, and 19 against Rider. Flood has averaged 18.5 points per game over the past six games.
