Box Score
Click here to view the 2010-11 Manhattan Women's Basketball Media Guide
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Even a nine-day layoff and more than two feet of snow on the ground outside couldn't slow down the Manhattan College women's basketball team on Thursday night. The Lady Jaspers (8-3) played their trademark suffocating defense, forcing 28 turnovers, and got a balanced scoring effort to post a 56-42 victory over Army (4-8) at Draddy Gymnasium. The victory was Manhattan's third straight and seventh in its last eight games.
"Overall, coming back from Christmas vacation and a couple of days with snow, I'm very pleased with the girls' efforts," Head Coach John Olenowski said.
Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) scored Manhattan's first seven points, but Army kept it tight early on, tying the score at 8-8 at the 12:39 mark of the first half. However, a Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) layup on the Lady Jaspers' next possession ignited an 11-0 run in a span of just over three minutes, and a trey by Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) made it 19-8 Manhattan with 9:34 left in the first half. The Black Knights battled back, though, outscoring the Lady Jaspers 15-8 the rest of the half to trim their deficit to four, 27-23, at intermission.
After Manhattan pushed its lead back to nine, Molly Yardley sank a pair of treys to get Army back within three, 34-31, with 15:42 remaining. That's as close as the Black Knights would get though, as Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) drained a three-pointer on the other end to make it a six-point game. Roeder added a jumper on Manhattan's next possession, then Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) turned a Peters steal into a fast break layup that brought the Lady Jaspers' advantage back to double figures, 41-31.
Yardley hit another trey to get Army back within seven at 43-36 before an old-fashioned three-point play by Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) ignited an 11-0 Manhattan run that increased the Lady Jaspers' lead 20 points, 56-36, with 4:54 left. Army scored the final six points of the game to make it a 14-point final margin, 56-42.
Roeder finished with 13 points to lead the Lady Jaspers. Herrington tallied 12 points, while Loutsenhizer added nine points and a team-high six rebounds. Wentworth had nine points to go along with five assists and three steals, and Peters contributed six points, five boards and four steals. The Lady Jaspers shot 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from downtown, and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) at the charity stripe.
"It's nice to have a lot of different weapons you can go to," Olenowski said. "Monica stepped up and had some really big baskets, and Alyssa was consistent all game long. I thought Lindsey played a really nice game, too. She got some big buckets and was very tough defensively for us."
Erin Anthony had a double-double for Army, posting 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. She also recorded two assists, two steals and two blocks. Yardley was the only other Black Knight in double figures with a game-high 15 points. Laura Baranek and Jen Hazlett both handed out two assists. Army shot 32.7 percent (16-of-49) from the floor and outrebounded Manhattan 34-29. The Black Knights shot 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from beyond the arc and 50 percent (6-of-12) at the free throw line.
Thursday's contest was Manhattan's final non-conference game of the season. On Sunday afternoon, the Lady Jaspers open their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) slate with a 2 p.m. matchup against Loyola (3-8, 0-0 MAAC). The Greyhounds swept the season series last year and have won five of the last six meetings between the schools.
NOTES: Manhattan defeated Army at Draddy Gymnasium for the first time since the 1996-97 season and improved to 8-4 all-time against the Black Knights...The Lady Jaspers have now won two straight against Army...The eight non-conference victories are Manhattan's most in a single season since going 8-1 in non-conference action in 1999-2000...The Lady Jaspers held their opponent under 50 points for the third straight game and the seventh time this season...Manhattan didn't trail for the second straight contest...The Lady Jaspers scored 28 points off Army turnovers...With three steals, Wentworth moved into sole possession of 10th place on the program's all-time list...The Lady Jaspers finished with a 6-1 mark in the month of December and an overall record of 18-12 in the 2010 calendar year.
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