Box Score
BRONX, N.Y. ? The annual “Battle of the Bronx” between Manhattan and Fordham was held on Wednesday night at Rose Hill Gym. The Lady Jaspers (1-2) stormed back from an 11-point first half deficit to take the lead in the second half, but the Rams (1-1) proved too tough in the end and posted a 62-49 victory. With the win, Fordham snapped a 35-game losing streak.
In each of their first two games, the Lady Jaspers built a big first-half lead, but this time it was the Rams who created the early cushion. After Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.) drained a three on Manhattan's opening possession, Fordham scored the next eight points to take an 8-5 lead. The Rams' advantage reached 11 points when Megan Mahoney sank a trey to make it 20-9 with 10:40 left in the half. Randall Hurst hit a jumper to give Fordham a 22-11 edge with 8:58 remaining before halftime.
Another McIntyre trey at the 8:09 mark ignited a Manhattan rally that would last for the duration of the half. The Lady Jaspers ended the half on a 12-3 spurt and trailed by just two, 25-23, at intermission.
Hurst opened the second half by sinking a pair of free throws to extend Fordham's lead to four before Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) nailed two foul shots and Marculitis hit Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.) on a beautiful give-and-go, coast-to-coast layup to tie the game at 27-27 with 18:39 to go.
Fordham regained the lead at 33-30, but Nicole Harrison (Falls Church, Va.) drained a three on the other end to tie the game, then a Regan jumper gave Manhattan a 35-33 lead with 13:28 remaining, its first lead since the opening minute. The Lady Jaspers extended their advantage to four when a layup by Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) made it 40-36 with 10:20 left to play.
A three-point play by Kyara Weekes cut Manhattan's lead to one, then Fordham took the lead on a pair of free throws by Becky Peters. The Rams went on a 15-4 run over the next 5:42 to open up a 58-46 advantage with 3:29 remaining. A three-pointer by McIntyre finally ended the Lady Jaspers' scoring drought, but Manhattan missed its last five shots and Fordham hit four free throws down the stretch to cap off the 62-49 victory.
“They made a run, then we made a run, then they made another run, and we weren't able to counter that,” Head Coach Myndi Hill said. “That's a sign of our youth.”
Regan led the Lady Jaspers with 12 points, while McIntyre tallied nine points on three treys. Herrington grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with five points and a team-high three assists. Alicia Marculitis (Worcester, Mass.) tallied four points, five rebounds and an assist in a career-high 25 minutes. The Lady Jaspers outrebounded the Rams 42-32. Manhattan shot 34.5 percent (19-of-55) from the field, including 40 percent (6-of-15) from three-point range, and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) at the line.
Hurst recorded a game-high 19 points and added a team-high six boards for the Rams. Kristina Bell contributed nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, as Fordham scored 32 points off 28 Manhattan turnovers. Weekes posted eight points and three assists off the bench for Fordham and Tiffany Stokes had three blocks. As a team, the Rams shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field, 20 percent (2-of-10) from beyond the arc, and 76.9 percent (20-of-26) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers open their home slate on Saturday afternoon, as St. John's (2-0) visits Draddy Gymnasium at 2 p.m. for the first meeting between the schools since 1997. A live webcast of the game will be available at www.gojaspers.com as part of the JasperVision package. Ed Cohen and Brian Mahoney will have the call.
NOTES: This was the 40th all-time meeting between the cross-town rivals...Manhattan leads the series 22-18...Marculitis, whose previous career-high was 11 minutes, played 13 minutes in the first half...Freshman Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) made her collegiate debut, grabbing one rebound and dishing out an assist in four minutes...Lisa Toscano '79, one of the pioneers of women's basketball at Manhattan, was in attendance and a guest on the Lady Jaspers' bench...Manhattan was held under 50 points for the first time since a 51-48 loss at Canisius on Jan. 25, 2008...The Rams now lead this season's “Battle of the Bronx” 4-1, with the men's basketball game scheduled for Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Fordham.