POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - With the two highest scoring teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) finally meeting for the first time this season, a shootout might've been expected. Instead, a defensive struggle broke out between the Manhattan College women's basketball team and first-place Marist at the McCann Center on Monday night. Unfortunately for the Lady Jaspers (13-12, 8-6 MAAC), it was the Red Foxes (20-6, 12-2 MAAC) who used a 15-2 run late in the second half to pull away for a 55-44 victory. The loss snapped Manhattan's three-game winning streak.
Manhattan scored the first points of the game on a Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) three and led 9-3 at the first media timeout. After a layup by Alicia Marculitis (Worcester, Mass.) made it 15-11 in favor of Manhattan at the 7:57 mark, Marist scored the next four points to tie the game for the first time. The Lady Jaspers went right back in front on a Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) layup, but the Red Foxes responded with a three-pointer by Erica Allenspach to take their first lead of the game, 18-17. Marist scored five straight points late in the half to open up a 29-22 advantage before Loutsenhizer sank a jumper to trim Manhattan's deficit to five, 29-24, at intermission.
After the Red Foxes ran their lead back to seven points at 34-27 with 16:05 remaining in the contest, Manhattan responded with a 10-0 rally to take the lead. The Red Foxes committed turnovers on three straight possessions, and the Lady Jaspers converted the Marist miscues into five points. Manhattan went in front on a Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) free throw, the extended its lead to 37-34 on Pacheco's steal and coast-to-coast layup with 11:30 left.
Marist came back to tie it at 38-38 on a pair of Rachele Fitz free throws, then the teams traded baskets to force another deadlock at 40-40 with 8:32 to play. From there, the Marist defense took over, as the Lady Jaspers were held without a field goal for more than five minutes. The Red Foxes held a 47-40 lead before Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) finally broke Manhattan's scoring drought to bring the Lady Jaspers back within five, 47-42, with 3:32 to go.
However, that's as close as Manhattan would get the rest of the way. Kristine Best drained a three-pointer on Marist's next possession, then, following a pair of Fitz free throws, Allenspach, in an effort to beat the shot clock, threw up a desperation three from midcourt that banked in and gave Marist its largest lead of the game, 55-42. Pacheco hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to finish up the scoring.
Pacheco and Loutsenhizer, Manhattan's top two scorers, combined for 33 of the Lady Jaspers' 44 points. Pacheco finished with a game-high 18 points and added five assists, five steals and six rebounds. Loutsenhizer tallied 15 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards. Peters chipped in seven points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. For the game, the Lady Jaspers shot 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the field, 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from three-point land, and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) at the charity stripe.
Allenspach tallied 15 points and four assists to lead the Red Foxes. Fitz, the MAAC's leading scorer, added 14 points and pulled down a game-high eight boards, as Marist outrebounded Manhattan 35-30. Best added nine points on three treys, while Kate Oliver posted four steals. Marist shot 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the floor and 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from downtown. One of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation, Marist went 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) at the line.
The Lady Jaspers play their final road game of the 2009-10 regular season on Friday night at 7 p.m. against Siena (8-15, 6-8 MAAC). Manhattan defeated Siena 74-53 at Draddy Gymnasium on Feb. 5.
NOTES: It was Marist's 14th straight win over Manhattan...The Lady Jaspers lead the all-time series 21-17...Manhattan fell to 0-4 this season in road games against teams that participated in the 2009 NCAA Tournament (Virginia, Vermont, Sacred Heart, Marist)...It marked just the second time this season that the Lady Jaspers lost when allowing fewer than 60 points...Manhattan has held its last seven opponents under the 60-point mark and is 5-2 during that span...Manhattan was held to just 44 points at Marist for the second straight season...The Lady Jaspers dropped a night game for just the second time this season...Pacheco played in her 100th career game on Monday night.