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NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. - The Manhattan College women's basketball team made program history on Sunday afternoon. With a 59-53 victory over Niagara (1-20, 0-10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) at the Gallagher Center, the Lady Jaspers (15-6, 7-3 MAAC) swept the Buffalo trip for the first time in school history.
"Sweeping both games in Buffalo was extremely pleasing and a big goal of our team coming up here on this trip. This certainly will give us confidence as we start heading down the second half of our MAAC schedule," Head Coach John Olenowski said.
The contest featured seven ties and 16 lead changes, and neither side led by more than six points the entire way. Niagara opened up an early 6-2 edge, but the Lady Jaspers rallied back to take a 9-8 advantage on a Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) layup with 11:27 left in the first half. The lead changed hands on each of the next three possessions before Manhattan went in front 18-14 on four straight Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) free throws at the 7:15 mark.
However, the Purple Eagles responded with an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead of their own, 22-18, with 3:51 remaining before halftime. Niagara led 26-22 before Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) drained a three-pointer to cut the Lady Jaspers' deficit to one, 26-25, at intermission.
The back-and-forth flow continued in the second half, as Manhattan went back in front on a layup by Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) on the opening possession. Back-to-back Niagara layups turned a 31-31 game into a 35-31 Purple Eagles lead, but the Lady Jaspers once again stormed back to regain the lead, 37-36, on a Wentworth layup at the 14:18 mark.
Manhattan opened up a six-point lead, its largest of the game, at 48-42 before Niagara went on an 8-2 spurt to tie it at 50-50. After a pair of empty possessions, Peters jumped in front of a Katie Gattuso pass and fed Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.). Blair fired a three-pointer from the right elbow that was nothing but net, putting the Lady Jaspers back on top, 53-50, with 3:56 to go.
That trey was the clincher, as Manhattan never trailed again. Peters went 1-for-2 at the line to make it a two-possession game before Gattuso drained a pair of foul shots to get Niagara back within two at 54-52. However, Wentworth sank layups on each of the next two Manhattan possessions, the second of which made the score 58-53 with just 25 seconds remaining. Niagara missed a three-pointer, then was forced to foul, and Roeder converted a late free throw to give the Lady Jaspers a six-point victory, 59-53.
"I thought it was a very hard-fought battle, and Niagara played extremely well," Olenowski said. "I was proud of the way our girls hung in there in the second half and found a way to take the lead and preserve the victory. Our two captains had fantastic games and willed our team to victory."
Wentworth finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals. Peters had 14 points, five boards and a career-high six steals, while Blair notched nine points and two assists. Manhattan shot 36.2 percent (17-of-47) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from downtown, and 77.8 percent (21-of-27) at the line.
Jessica Flamm posted 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds, as Niagara outrebounded Manhattan 31-30. Shy Britton, Liz Flooks and Gattuso all added eight points, while Flooks also distributed four assists. Meghan Waterman had seven points and four steals for Niagara. The Purple Eagles shot 40.5 percent (17-of-42) from the field, 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from long distance, and 77.3 percent (17-of-22) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers conclude their three-game road trip on Friday, when they visit Siena (8-11, 6-3 MAAC) at 5 p.m. The Saints notched a 51-44 victory when the teams met at Draddy Gymnasium on Jan. 4. The game will be the opener of a doubleheader at the Times Union Center, with the Manhattan and Siena men's teams squaring off at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Manhattan has been making the Canisius-Niagara trip annually since 1990-91 and had previously lost the back end after winning the first game four different times...The Lady Jaspers swept the regular season series with Niagara for the third straight year and improved to 24-21 all-time against the Purple Eagles...It was Olenowski's 100th career victory as a collegiate head coach and 30th win as mentor of the Lady Jaspers...Manhattan won after trailing at halftime for the second time this season...The Lady Jaspers allowed more than 50 points in a victory for the first time since Dec. 3...Manhattan scored 22 points off 17 Niagara turnovers...Wentworth tallied 20 points for the fifth time this season and the fourth time in seven games...Peters had five steals in the win at Canisius on Friday.
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