Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? On the night Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.) scored her 1,000th career point, the Manhattan College women's basketball team (7-17, 4-9 MAAC) fought back from as many as 19 points down to take the lead in the second half before coming up just short, 72-65, against archrival Iona (14-11, 7-7 MAAC) in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at Draddy Gymnasium on Monday night. Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.) led the Lady Jaspers with a career-high 18 points, while Kerri White (Flushing, N.Y.) poured in a career-high 15 points off the bench.
Iona scored the first 11 points of the game before the Lady Jaspers got a layup from Regan and a trey from McIntyre to cut the Gaels' lead to 11-5. The Gaels scored 16 of the next 18 points to open up a 25-7 advantage before McIntyre sank another trey with 5:25 left in the half. After back-to-back steals turned into easy layups Iona's lead reached a game-high 19 points at 29-10. The teams traded baskets to make it 31-12 before the Lady Jaspers ended the half on a 9-2 run to head into the locker room only trailing by 12 points, 33-21.
The Gaels scored the first two points of the second half on a pair of Suzi Fregosi free throws, but the Lady Jaspers scored the next six points and cut Iona's lead to eight when McIntyre nailed a three-pointer with 17:56 remaining. Fregosi answered with a three on the other end, but Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) countered with a traditional three-point play to make it 38-30 in favor of the Gaels. Regan's rebound and put back of her own miss at the 17:14 mark gave her 1,000 points and cut Iona's lead to 38-32.
Iona ran the lead back to nine points before a White trey trimmed the lead to four, 42-38, with 14:49 remaining. After the squads traded baskets, White drained another three to cut Manhattan's deficit to one point, 44-43. She then hit another trey at the 11:19 mark to tie the game at 48-48. The score was tied twice more before White drove for a layup to give the Lady Jaspers their first lead of the game, a 54-52 advantage with 8:31 left.
Naeemah Ricketts hit a layup to break a 57-57 tie at the 5:52 mark, but McIntyre gave Manhattan back the lead with a three-pointer on the other end. Ricketts responded with a jumper to ignite a 9-0 run that allowed the Gaels to pull away. Manhattan pulled within five points at 70-65 with 35 seconds remaining, but the Lady Jaspers ran out of time and Iona held on for a 72-65 victory.
“We shot the ball a lot better in the second half,” Head Coach Myndi Hill said, “but I thought we turned the ball over too much. I give Iona a lot of credit for keeping their poise even after we came back.”
McIntyre's 18 points came on six three-pointers. She also posted three rebounds and two steals. White made her first five field goal attempts and finished 5-for-7 from the field while also grabbing four rebounds before fouling out. Pacheco had 12 points and a game-high four assists, while Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Regan also just missed a double-double with seven points and nine rebounds. She also contributed a career-high four assists. As a team, Manhattan shot 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the field, including 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the second half. The Lady Jaspers shot 34.5 percent (10-of-29) from three-point range and 64.7 percent (11-of-17) at the free throw line.
Kristina Ford finished with 17 points, five rebounds, two blocks and four steals for the Gaels. Thazina Cook added 16 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Ricketts and Fregosi each had 11 points, and Fregosi handed out three assists. Anda Ivkovic posted eight points and nine rebounds off the bench, as the Gaels outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 41-36. Iona shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, including 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from downtown, and 64.1 percent (25-of-39) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers now hit the road for two straight against the teams directly above and below them in the standings. Eighth-place Manhattan visits seventh-place Rider (8-16, 5-8 MAAC) at the Sovereign Bank Arena at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, then the Lady Jaspers take on ninth-place Loyola (8-15, 3-10 MAAC) at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Baltimore. The Broncs posted a 76-66 victory at Draddy Gymnasium on Jan. 11, while the Greyhounds defeated Manhattan 78-65 on Dec. 5.
NOTES: The game was televised on the MSG Network as a part of the MAAC-TV package...This was the 59th all-time meeting between the schools...Manhattan leads the all-time series 40-19...The Lady Jaspers used a different starting lineup for the fourth straight game and the 12th time this season, with Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) returning to the starting five...Regan became the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau and the first since Caitlin Flood, who reached the mark against Howard on Dec. 2, 2007...McIntyre's previous career-high was 16 points against Loyola on Dec. 5, while White's previous career-best was nine points at Canisius on Jan. 18...Manhattan celebrated the 23rd annual National Girls and Women In Sport Day by giving free admission to all girls and women...The contest was the opener of a doubleheader...Following the women's game, the Manhattan and Iona men's teams squared off.