BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Manhattan College women's basketball team fell into an early hole and was never able to climb out of it on Saturday afternoon, as Vermont (4-1) shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the floor in the first half and 50 percent (26-of-52) in the game, en route to a 78-59 victory over the Lady Jaspers (3-4) at Patrick Gymnasium.
Vermont led throughout, as May Kotsopoulos drained a pair of three-pointers on each of the Catamounts' first two possessions. After a three ball by Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) made it 9-6 in favor of Vermont, the Catamounts used a 14-4 run to open up a 23-10 advantage with 12:02 left in the first half. The Lady Jaspers pulled back within 11 on a Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) layup midway through the period, but Vermont went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to increase its lead to 37-16 with 5:35 remaining before halftime. A Loutsenhzier layup capped a 9-3 spurt that pulled Manhattan back within 15 at 40-25 with 3:01 to go, and the Lady Jaspers trailed by 17 points, 46-29, at the break. Vermont shot 60 percent (6-of-10) from downtown in the opening 20 minutes, while Loutsenhizer had 14 of Manhattan's 29 first-half points.
The Lady Jaspers got a layup from Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) that cut the deficit to 15 early in the second half before the Catamounts responded with back-to-back threes to increase their lead to 21 points, 52-31. Manhattan chipped away, pulling back within 16 when Loutsenhizer's trey made it 56-40 with 13:57 remaining, but Vermont countered with a 15-5 run to increase its lead to a game-high 26 points, 71-45. After the teams traded baskets, Manhattan battled back once again, rallying for 11 straight points to get back within 15, 73-58, with 1:27 left. That's as close as Manhattan would get, however, and Vermont got a layup at the buzzer to notch a 78-59 victory.
"Today was a very tough game against an excellent ball club," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "I think we did a very good job of getting back into the game in the second half, but they came back and hit some long key shots. I think our team gave a very good effort, even though the score doesn't indicate that, and I think we can take a lot of positives away from this game."
Loutsenhizer tied her career-high with 19 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Lady Jaspers. Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and distributed seven assists, while Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) added nine points. Peters and Wentworth each contributed seven points for the Lady Jaspers. Manhattan shot 36.2 percent (17-of-47) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from three-point range, and 75 percent (21-of-28) at the free throw line.
Kotsopoulos paced the Catamounts with 17 points, while Courtnay Pilypaitis recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. Lauren Buschmann added 12 points off the bench, and Sofia Iwobi notched nine points and four assists. Alissa Sheftic had seven points to go along with nine boards, as the Catamounts outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 34-28. For the game, Vermont shot an impressive 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from downtown and 65.2 percent (15-of-23) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers conclude a two-game road trip and a span where they played four out of five games away from Draddy Gymnasium with a 7 p.m. matchup at Army (5-3) on Tuesday. The Black Knights posted a 51-47 victory when the teams met in Riverdale last season.
NOTES: Manhattan and Vermont met for the fourth consecutive season...The Lady Jaspers are 0-5 all-time against the Catamounts...Six of Manhattan's seven games this season have been decided by 16 or more points...After inserting Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) into the starting lineup for the Elon game, Manhattan went back to the starting lineup it used in the first five games of the season on Saturday afternoon...Loutenshizer also had 19 points in a win at Rider on Feb. 13, 2009...She led the Lady Jaspers in scoring for the third time in the last four games...Herrington played her first game in the State of Vermont since being named Vermont's Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Mt. Anthony Union High School...The game was also a homecoming of sorts for Wentworth, who grew up about three hours away in Portland, Maine...Manhattan fell to 0-3 this season against teams that played in the 2009 NCAA Tournament...All three of those games have been on the road.