Riverdale, N.Y. (January 13, 2008) ? The Lady Jaspers lost in a nail-biter to Marist College today in Draddy Gymnasium. It came down to the last possession as Manhattan just missed their opportunity to walk away with a victory. Seniors Joann Nwafili and Caitlin Flood both dropped a team high 13 points on the day. Flood added seven assists and seven boards to her thirteen points.
Both teams came out in the first half and played hard against each other. It was a defensive struggle as the game was tied, 7-7, going into the first media timeout of the game at 15:51. Soon after, Nwafili hit a huge three pointer that put Manhattan up 10-7. The Lady Js' went on a 10-4 run in a little over six minutes to sport a six point lead, 17-11 with 8:37 left to play in the half. But the Marist showed why they were the defending MAAC Champions as they put together a little run of their own. The Red Foxes run took them into half time as the scoreboard showed Marist with a three point lead, 26-23. Nwafili finished the half with five points off of 2-3 shooting from the field. Flood also finished the half with five points and looking for a way to overcome there deficit.
At the start of the second half, both teams were leaving it all out on the floor. After a jumper by Marists' Rachele Fitz with just under 15 minutes to play, Manhattan faced their largest deficit of the game, 37-30. But a jumper by Flood and a three pointer by freshman Nicole Harrison on consecutive possessions brought the Lady J's right back into the game. In a half that saw three ties and four lead changes, both teams were giving all they had. With the Lady Jaspers down two, 46-44, freshman guard Abby Wentworth drove the lane and made a smooth lay-up to tie the game up. No matter how close Manhattan got, Marist would try to ease out a little further. But with 2:10 left to play in the game, Nwafili hit a huge three pointer to put the Lady J's in the lead, 56-55.
The game went back and forth with possessions and defensive stands, but the Red Foxes managed to score a bucket with under a minute to play to take a one point lead. After a pair of free throws by Marists' Nikki Flores, Manhattan was down five with 10 seconds to play, 61-56. On the next possession, Gabrielle Cottrell raced down the court to hit a lay-up and draw the foul with just six seconds left. After she converted the three point play, Marist turned the ball after trying a half court pass from the baseline. Flood grabbed the ball and dribble to half court, threw a shot up but missed and it went off a Marist player with just three tenths of a second showing on the game clock. The Lady Jaspers tried for a tip play, but the ball was deflected and Marist squeaked by with a victory.
Nwafili went 5-7 from the field for her 13 points, including a perfect 2-2 from three point range. Cottrell finished the game with ten points as she went 3-3 from the charity stripe. As a team, Manhattan shot 55% from the field as well as 43% from behind the arc. They tallied seven steals on the day as well as forcing 14 Marist turnovers.
The Lady Jaspers lose their first conference game of the year and fall to 4-1 with a 9-7 overall record. Manhattan will return to action on Friday, January 18 as they will travel to take on Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, N.J. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
