Manhattan University Athletics

Box Score 

RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College women's basketball team had one if its worst offensive performances of the season, going scoreless for over 10 minutes and putting up a season-low 44 points, in a 70-44 loss to Marist on Jan. 30.  What a difference three weeks makes.  The Lady Jaspers (9-18, 6-10 MAAC) put forth one of their best offensive efforts of the year in the rematch with the Red Foxes on Thursday night.  Unfortunately, first-place Marist (24-3, 14-2 MAAC) had a great offensive night, as well, en route to a 91-82 victory in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at Draddy Gymnasium.

“That's as good as we can play,” Head Coach Myndi Hill said.  “We shot the ball really well.  Any time you can score 82 points against Marist is impressive.  These are the tough ones, to play that well and still fall short.”

Early on, it looked like it might be a repeat of the first game, as Rachele Fitz, the MAAC's leading scorer, tallied five quick points to give Marist the lead.  The Red Foxes ran their lead to 11-4, but the Lady Jaspers countered with three-pointers from Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) and Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) to make it 13-10 just 3:39 into the game. 

Marist responded with a 13-4 run to bring its lead back to 11 points, 25-14, but Manhattan again charged back.  Kerri White's (Flushing, N.Y.) three-pointer pulled the Lady Jaspers within two at 27-25 before Julianne Viani hit a trey on the other end.  Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.) drained a jumper on Manhattan's next possession, then grabbed the rebound after a Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.) block and fed Regan for a layup that cut Marist's lead to one, 30-29.   After a Fitz layup, Regan hit another to make it 32-31 with 7:58 left in the first half.

Lynzee Johnson drained a three-pointer to bring Marist's lead back to four points and ignite an 8-0 run for the Red Foxes.  Manhattan scored six of the next eight points to pull within four at 41-37 before the Red Foxes ended the half on an 11-3 run to take a 52-40 lead into the locker room.  The Lady Jaspers shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the field in the first half, but Marist shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field, including 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from three-point range, in the opening 20 minutes.

Manhattan continued its hot shooting early in the second half, and pulled within five points when Loutsenhizer's layup made it 59-54 with 15:08 remaining.  That's as close as the Lady Jaspers would get in the second half, however, as the Red Foxes countered with a 15-5 run to increase their lead to 15 points, 74-59, with 10:14 left in the game.  Manhattan made a late rally to pull within seven at 82-75, but was forced to foul late in order to stop the clock, and the Red Foxes put the game away with their free throw shooting.  Marist missed just one free throw all night, going 24-for-25 (96 percent) at the line.  Manhattan got a late three-pointer from Herrington to make the final margin nine points, 91-82.

Regan, who was held to three points in the first meeting, recorded a career-high 29 points and added eight rebounds for the Lady Jaspers, who outrebounded the Red Foxes 32-27.  McIntyre flirted with a triple-double, tallying 13 points to go along with a career-high seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists.

“Our seniors really wanted Marist,” Hill said.  “They (McIntyre and Regan) haven't beaten them.  We came close last year, but we didn't in the first game.  I like how hard we played tonight.”

Herrington sank four three-pointers and finished with 14 points for the Lady Jaspers, while Loutsenhizer contributed 12 points off the bench.  Laura Rivera (Elmont, N.Y.) dished out a career-high five assists.  Manhattan made a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot 52 percent (13-of-25) from beyond the arc.  The Lady Jaspers shot 48.4 percent (30-of-62) from the field and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) at the charity stripe.

Fitz led the Red Foxes with 24 points.  She also tallied three rebounds and three assists.  Erica Allenspach recorded 16 points to go along with four assists, three steals and a team-high six rebounds, while Viani just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine assists.  Johnson contributed 17 points, three assists and four steals off the bench.  Marist shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from downtown.

Manhattan concludes its 2008-09 road schedule on Monday night with a 7 p.m. visit to Saint Peter's (11-13, 8-7 MAAC).  The Lady Jaspers posted a 73-50 victory over the Peahens at Draddy Gymnasium on Dec. 7.  However, Saint Peter's is one of the hottest teams in the MAAC, winning five straight games to move into a tie for fourth place.