Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (February 24, 2008) ? In front of a packed house at the McCann Center the Lady Jaspers fell to #23 Marist College, 71-61. Junior Kelly Regan finished with a team high 14 points alongside a 13 point performance by freshman Abby Wentworth.
Manhattan fell behind early as Marists' Nikki Flores scored eight points in the first four minutes of the game. Kelly Regan answered back scoring six of Manhattan's first eight points, but the Lady Jaspers still trailed 12-9. The Red Foxes showed why they are nationally ranked as the Lady J's found themselves staring at a 13 point deficit. That was not going to stop Manhattan as it held Marist scoreless for nearly five minutes in the half. During that time they ladies put together a 13-2 run over three minutes and after a deep three pointer by Gabrielle Cottrell, the Lady J's were now only down one, 26-25 with just under six minutes to play in the half. Joann Nwafili's drive and the bucket game the Lady Jaspers their first lead of the game and had silenced the crowd at the McCann Center. But it was towards the end of the half that Marist started to get a little momentum back. Manhattan went into the locker room at halftime, trailing 37-28. They needed to find an answer for Marists' high powered offense and were looking to come out strong in the second half.
It took a few minutes for Manhattan to get going in the second half, but Kelly Regan's play held the Lady Jasper offense down. The Lady J's were playing tough, but were still facing a seven point deficit. Wentworth came through with a big three as she contributed to a 11-0 Manhattan run. The ladies would not let up as they came back from 14 down to tie the game up at 48 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
Manhattan was doing this without leading scorer Caitlin Flood as she was called for her fourth foul early in the second half. Forced to sit, Regan and Wentworth really helped carry the team to stay in this game. After the game was tied, Marist would put together a little scoring run of their own and once again put the Lady J's behind. Manhattan would get it as close as six points, but the Red Foxes offense proved to be too strong as they finished out with a victory.
Regan was 7-10 shooting from the field for her 14 points. Wentworth was a perfect 3-3 from three point range. Flood finished the game with 11 points while dishing out three assists. The Lady J's forced 18 Marist turnovers in the game while tallying six steals. The team shot 71.4% from the charity stripe going 10-14.
The Lady Jaspers will return to action on Wednesday, February 27 as they will play their rescheduled game against Fairfield University. Tip-off is schedule for 7:00 p.m. at Draddy Gymnasium.
