Box Score
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. ? Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) drove the length of the court and drained the game-winning layup with two seconds remaining to give the Manhattan College women's basketball team (5-9, 2-1 MAAC) a 57-56 victory over Iona (9-5, 2-1 MAAC) in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at the Hynes Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.
“We didn't have any timeouts, so Coach told me to just go attack the basket,” Pacheco said. “I just went straight for the hoop and fortunately made the shot. Coach kept us really level-headed, telling us ?We ARE going to win this game,' and we came up with the big win.”
“The big play was the defensive stop before that,” Head Coach Myndi Hill said. “I was just yelling ?one stop' and I knew we didn't have any timeouts left, so I didn't set up a play. Michelle executed really well.”
Manhattan trailed 56-52 with 5:16 remaining, then Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) hit a clutch three-pointer from the left wing as the shot clock expired to cut Iona's lead to one with 4:30 left to play. Each team played lock-down defense for the remainder of the game, as the score remained 56-55 until Pacheco's last-second shot.
After a Wentworth steal with 1:01 left, Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.) missed a layup on the other end and Iona grabbed the rebound with 43 seconds remaining. The Gaels ran the shot clock all the way down until Tomica Bacic fired a three with 13 seconds to go. The shot fell short and Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.) corralled the rebound for the Lady Jaspers. McIntyre then handed off to Pacheco, who drove the length of the floor for the winning score. Naeemah Ricketts attempted a desperation trey for Iona at the buzzer, but that shot, too, fell short and the Lady Jaspers celebrated the win.
“This one was very important,” Pacheco said. “Our non-conference record doesn't matter. Now it's conference time, and today we showed how hard we've been working.”
The contest was a back-and-forth affair throughout. After Iona scored the first point of the game, Manhattan quickly opened up an 8-3 lead. The Lady Jaspers' advantage reached six points when Pacheco sank a pair of free throws to make it 13-7 with 13:05 left in the first half, but the Gaels responded with a 6-1 run to pull within one, 14-13, at the 9:49 mark.
After Bacic hit a pair of free throws to give Iona a 21-19 lead with 5:00 to go until halftime, Alicia Marculitis (Worcester, Mass.) drained a jumper to tie the game and ignite a 12-2 Manhattan run. Manhattan's lead reached a game-high eight points when Kerri White's (Flushing, N.Y.) steal and coast-to-coast layup made it 31-23 with 1:11 remaining in the half. A three-pointer by Anda Ivkovic sparked a 7-0 Iona run during the final minute of the half and the Lady Jaspers led by just one, 31-30, at the break.
The Lady Jaspers ran their lead back to six points after Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) drained back-to-back buckets to make it 42-36 with 12:19 remaining. The Gaels countered with a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead, but Manhattan countered with consecutive three-pointers by McIntyre and Herrington to push the lead back to five points, 48-43, at the 9:44 mark.
It was then Iona's turn to rally. The Gaels scored the next 11 points and took a 54-48 advantage on a jumper by Naeemah Ricketts with 6:33 remaining. Manhattan pulled within two after Regan and Wentworth tallied consecutive buckets, then Kristina Ford sank a pair of free throws to run Iona's lead back to four points, 56-52, with 5:16 left in the game.
“Our bench did a great job today,” Hill said. “In the first half, we had three starters on the bench in foul trouble and the bench really stepped up. Then our go-to players came up big at the end. Kelly had some huge rebounds and Abby had a huge steal.”
Regan, who was held to just four points, grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for the Lady Jaspers. Wentworth had five points and two assists. Pacheco finished with a team-high 15 points and added five rebounds, five assists and two blocks. McIntyre came off the bench for the first time this season and contributed 10 points, two assists and two steals. Manhattan shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from three-point range, and 44.4 percent (4-of-9) at the line.
Ivkovic finished with a double-double for the Gaels, pouring in a game-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds. She added three assists. Thazina Cook recorded 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals for Iona. Bacic tallied 11 points and six boards, while Ford contributed seven rebounds and four steals. The Gaels outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 47-35, including a 16-5 edge on the offensive glass, but shot just 28.8 percent (17-of-59) from the field. Iona shot 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from downtown and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory, their second straight in conference play. Manhattan returns to Draddy Gymnasium for its next two games, starting with a 5 p.m. matchup against Canisius (10-4, 2-1 MAAC) on Friday. The contest is the opener of a Manhattan basketball doubleheader. The men's team hosts Marist at 7:30 p.m. Both contests will be available via JasperVision at www.gojaspers.com.
NOTES: Manhattan has won three straight against Iona, including the last two at the Hynes Athletic Center...This was the 59th all-time meeting between the schools...Manhattan is now 40-19 all-time against Iona, its most wins against any opponent in program history...After starting four guards for the last six games, Manhattan reverted to a more traditional starting lineup on Sunday, with Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) getting the start alongside Regan at forward...Regan, who tied her previous career-high of 10 rebounds three times in the previous four games, is averaging 10.0 rebounds per game over the last five contests...Former Manhattan point guard Joann Nwafili '08 was in attendance...The Lady Jaspers held Iona scoreless over the last 5:16 of the game and without a field goal for the final 6:33.