Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? While many people were out shopping on Friday afternoon, the Manhattan College women's basketball team had a game to play, as the Lady Jaspers began a four-game homestand against America East preseason favorite Vermont. Manhattan (1-5) hung tough for a while, but the Catamounts (4-1) played like a team predicted to win its conference, posting a 69-50 victory at Draddy Gymnasium.
Vermont jumped out to an early 11-5 lead before Manhattan came back to tie it on a layup by Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.). The Catamounts regained the lead on a three-pointer by Amy Rosenkrantz and built their advantage to 18-14 with 9:02 left in the first half. Manhattan's Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) then single handedly gave the Lady Jaspers the lead, scoring her only five points of the game on a layup and a trey that put Manhattan in front 19-18 at the 6:00 mark.
The Lady Jaspers' lead would be short-lived, however. Rosenkrantz drained a layup that put the Catamounts back in front and ignited a 10-0 rally that gave Vermont a 28-19 advantage with 1:36 remaining in the half. Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.), who picked up two early fouls and played just five minutes in the half, ended Manhattan's scoring drought with a jumper, and the Lady Jaspers trailed 30-21 at intermission.
The squads played even basketball for the first few minutes of the second half before a 13-2 Vermont run put the Catamounts in front 53-34 with 7:27 left to play. Manhattan got within 17 when Regan's jumper made it 55-38, but May Kotsopoulos hit a three on the other end to bring Vermont's lead to 20, where it would remain for the rest of the contest. The margin reached a game-high 22 points before Nicole Harrison (Falls Church, Va.) made a pair of layups, sandwiched between a Vermont free throw, to make the final margin 19 points, 69-50.
Regan paced the Lady Jaspers with 10 points, but was limited to 15 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble. Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) made her first career start and responded with a career-high 10 rebounds. She also chipped in seven points. Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) also tallied seven points and distributed two assists. As a team, the Lady Jaspers shot 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the field, but shot just 11.8 percent (2-of-17) from three-point range and 40 percent (4-of-10) at the line.
Rosenkrantz finished one rebound shy of a double-double for the Catamounts, posting a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Kotsopoulos added 16 points, three assists and four steals, while Andrea Cihal contributed 12 points, four rebounds and three blocks off the bench. Courtnay Pilypaitis, last season's America East Player of the Year, was held to four points, but posted game-highs with 13 rebounds and five assists. As a team, the Catamounts shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field and outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 49-31. Vermont shot 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from beyond the arc and 60 percent (15-of-25) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers continue their four-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when Sacred Heart (0-4) comes to Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. matchup. A live webstream will be available at www.gojaspers.com as a part of the JasperVision package with Ed Cohen and Brian Mahoney calling the action.
NOTES: The teams met for the third consecutive year, and played at Draddy Gymnasium for the second straight season...Vermont leads the all-time series 4-0...After using the same starting lineup in the first five games, Manhattan used a different lineup for the first time, with Loutsenhizer replacing Peters in the starting five...The last Manhattan player to grab 10 rebounds in a game was Gabrielle Cottrell at Niagara on Jan. 27, 2008...Friday marked the start of Manhattan's Joyful Jaspers Toy Drive to benefit children at St. Augustine's School in the South Bronx, as well as the athletic department's Sneaker/Flip-Flop Drive for students at Christ the Teacher Institute for Education in Nairobi, Kenya.
