RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Michelle Pacheco's (Bronx, N.Y.) runner as time expired gave the Manhattan College women's basketball team (13-11, 8-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) a 55-53 victory over Niagara (10-14, 7-6 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The win was Manhattan's third straight and moved the Lady Jaspers into sole possession of third place in the MAAC.
Niagara had tied the game at 53-53 on Rachele Folino's three-pointer from the left wing with 30.1 seconds remaining. After each team took a timeout, the Lady Jaspers held for one shot, knowing that they would at worst go to overtime. Manhattan wanted to get the ball inside, but no one had an open look. Just as the buzzer was about to sound, Pacheco threw up a 15-footer that was nothing but net.
"This was just a tremendous game," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "Michelle stepped up and made a really great shot. Big players make the big plays."
Folino scored the first basket of the game, and Niagara led for much of the early going. The Lady Jaspers took their first lead when Laura Rivera's (Elmont, N.Y.) three-pointer made it 16-15 midway through the first half, but Niagara immediately responded with a Folino jumper. Manhattan scored the next three points to take a 20-17 advantage before Ali Morris sank a trey to even the score at 20-20 with 6:44 remaining in the first half.
A Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) jumper on the ensuing possession sparked an 8-0 Manhattan run over the next minute that gave the Lady Jaspers a 28-20 cushion. The spurt was highlighted by Abby Wentworth's (Portland, Maine) four-point play. Manhattan carried its eight-point edge into the half, leading 36-28 at intermission.
Manhattan's lead reached a game-high 10 points when Loutsenhizer hit a layup on the Lady Jaspers' first possession of the second half, but Niagara responded with a 9-3 rally to pull within four, 41-37, with 16:46 remaining. The Lady Jaspers rallied for five straight points to push their lead back to nine, but Niagara again responded. Manhattan's only point during a span of 7:38 was a Wentworth free throw, and the Purple Eagles outscored the Lady Jaspers 9-1 during that stretch to pull within one, 49-48, with 4:30 left.
Rivera drove for a layup on Manhattan's next possession, the Lady Jaspers' first field goal in nearly eight minutes, to once again make it a three-point game, 51-48. The Purple Eagles again cut it to one on Folino's jumper with 1:22 left before Loutsenhizer countered with a bucket for Manhattan to put the Lady Jaspers up 53-50 with 52 seconds to play.
Loutsenhizer led the Lady Jaspers with 18 points and eight rebounds. She also had a career-high six steals. Wentworth added nine points, five rebounds and five steals, while Kerri White (Flushing, N.Y.) finished with seven points. Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) contributed six points and five boards, and Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) posted six points off the bench. Pacheco tallied a team-high five assists and added four steals. Manhattan shot 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from downtown and 61.1 percent (11-of-18) at the free throw line.
Folino tallied 25 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks for Niagara. Jaclyn Konieczka added nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Kayla Stroman had nine points and four assists. Morris dished out a team-high five assists to go along with six points and five rebounds off the bench. Niagara outrebounded Manhattan 38-27 and shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the field. The Purple Eagles shot 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from three-point range and sank their only free throw attempt.
The Lady Jaspers take its season-long three-game winning streak on the road on Monday night, when they visit first-place Marist (19-6, 11-2 MAAC) at 7:30 p.m. It will be the first meeting of the season between Manhattan and Marist, which has won the last 13 meetings between the schools.
NOTES: The Lady Japers swept the Purple Eagles for the second straight season and improved to 23-21 all-time against Niagara...Manhattan's last three-game winning streak was from Dec. 2-9, 2007...The Lady Jaspers have now won five out of their last six games...Manhattan has won back-to-back games by two points each for the first time in program history...It was Pacheco's second career buzzer-beater; she hit the winning shot in Manhattan's 57-56 victory at Iona on Jan. 4, 2009...Loutsenhizer's previous career-high was five steals in the season-opening victory over St. Francis (NY)...The Lady Jaspers committed just eight fouls in the game...Saturday was Manhattan's WBCA "Pink Zone" game for breast cancer awareness, and breast cancer survivors were honored before the game.