Riverdale, N.Y. (February 15, 2007)?With four games left in the regular season and fresh off a 22 point win against Saint Peter's, the Lady Jaspers have their sights set on a first round bye in the MAAC Tournament. Manhattan finishes up the road portion of their schedule with two games in Western New York this weekend, with games against Canisius and Niagara. The Golden Griffins are first, with tip-off set for Friday night at 7:00 p.m. from the Koessler Center.
Today's Game: The Lady Jaspers begin their Western New York swing, and final road trip of the season with tonight's game against Canisius College at the Koessler Center. Manhattan will be looking to sweep the season series from the Golden Griffs after defeating Canisius 56-55 on Amanda LoCascio's last second three-point play on January 25th. The Lady Jaspers are 2-2 in February, and are coming off a 72-50 win over Saint Peter's, their largest margin of victory this season. Canisius is coming off a 74-64 win at Fairfield.
Last Time Out: Caitlin Flood and Gabby Cottrell each recorded double-doubles as the Lady Jaspers eased past Saint Peter's 72-50. Flood tied her career high with 22 points, the second time she's done that this season, while Cottrell's 20 points and 12 rebounds were both career bests. Manhattan jumped out to a 19-6 lead, but Saint Peter's got back into the game with a 20-3 run that gave the Peahens a 26-22 lead. Trailing 30-29 at halftime, Manhattan used an 18-6 run midway through the second half to pull away for the win.
On the Horizon: Following tonight's game, Manhattan continues its Western New York trip with a game at Niagara Sunday afternoon. The Lady Jaspers will then return home for their final two games of the season against Rider and Siena.
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 17 games so far, six other players have combined to miss 29 games due to a variety of aliments, bringing the total to 46 games with Nwafili's injury. Only four players have suited up for every game, Caitlin Flood, Kelly Regan, Gabrielle Cottrell, and Jenna Franciosa.
Doubling Up: In Sunday's win over Saint Peter's, Caitlin Flood and Gabby Cottrell became the first pair of Lady Jaspers to record double-doubles in the same game since Rosalee Mason and Siobhan Kilkenny turned the trick against Rider on January 19, 2003. Flood scored 22 points, tying her career high for the second time this season, and grabbed 10 rebounds, the sixth time she's grabbed double digit rebounds. Cottrell with 20 points and 12 rebounds, bested her career high in both categories.
Some More History: With their 20+ point performances, Flood and Cottrell also became the first pair of Lady Jaspers to score 20 or more points in a game since Sarah Sangar and Donnette Reed scored 23 and 20 points respectively against Fairfield on December 5, 2004.
Give Her The Assist: Junior point Amanda LoCascio is averaging seven assists over her last four games. She handed out 10 assists at Fairfield (2/2) which was a career high, and the first time a Lady Jasper has had more than 10 assists in a game since Donnette Reed handed out 13 against Iona on 12/2/04. LoCascio dished out five more against Marist (2/4), eight assists against Fairfield (2/9), and five against St. Peter's (2/11) giving her 28 in the last four games. Averaging 3.09 assists a game, LoCascio ranks seventh in the MAAC in that category.
