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ALBANY, N.Y. - Leading by one with 21 seconds left in Friday's game at Siena, the Manhattan College women's basketball team needed a defensive stop. The Lady Jaspers got it when Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) forced a turnover with six seconds remaining. After a Manhattan timeout, Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) hit Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) with a beautiful baseball pass on the inbounds play. Roeder was fouled and made both free throws, and Siena's last-second three-pointer was no good, giving the Lady Jaspers (16-6, 8-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) a 48-45 victory over the Saints (8-13, 6-5 MAAC) at the Times Union Center.
"Maggie made a great play when we needed a stop and we needed a great defensive possession," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "And Monica's foul shots down the stretch were huge."
After both teams got off to a slow start offensively, Manhattan built a 7-2 lead at the 11:35 mark of the first half. Siena rallied back to take a 13-9 advantage before back-to-back three-pointers by Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) put the Lady Jaspers back in front 15-13. Wentworth had 11 straight Manhattan points, capped by a trey that made it 20-17 with 2:50 left in the half, then Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) sank a three the give the Lady Jaspers a four-point, 23-19, edge at the break.
The Lady Jaspers increased their lead to 11 points early in the second half, but Siena stormed back to within five, 40-35, at the 9:24 mark. Manhattan pushed its lead back up to nine at 46-37 on Loutsenhizer's three-pointer with 4:47 to go. However, Siena's Serena Moore scored eight points over the next two minutes to make it a one-point game, 46-45.
The Saints had a number of chances to take the lead before Manhattan's final stand, but each time the Lady Jaspers forced a turnover or a missed shot. After Wentworth missed a jumper with 24 seconds remaining, Moore grabbed the rebound and immediately called timeout. Siena tried to hold for one game-winning attempt, but Maja Gerlyng traveled, and Roeder's free throws put the victory away.
"Everybody played hard. These players absolutely willed our team to win," Olenowski said.
Roeder led the Lady Jaspers with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Wentworth finished with 13 points and three assists, while Loutsenhizer added 10 points and Herrington had eight points. Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) grabbed a team-high five rebounds to go along with two assists, and Blair recorded three steals. Overall, Manhattan shot 42.9 percent (18-of-42) from the field, 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from three-point land, and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) at the charity stripe.
Moore notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Siena. She also had three steals and three blocks. Gerlyng added 12 points and four rebounds, while Cristina Centeno had seven points and four assists. Missy Ramsey also dished out four assists for the Saints. Siena shot 40.9 percent (18-of-44) from the field and outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 32-18. Siena shot 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from long distance and converted all six of its free throw attempts.
The Lady Jaspers play their next three games at Draddy Gymnasium, starting with their second matchup against Canisius (7-15, 3-8 MAAC) in 10 days at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Manhattan notched a 55-30 victory over the Griffs in a nationally televised matchup on Jan. 28. It will be National Girls and Women in Sports Day at Draddy Gymnasium.
NOTES: Manhattan snapped its two-game losing streak against Siena and improved to 18-32 all-time against the Saints...It was Manhattan's first victory at the Times Union Center, the frequent site of the MAAC Tournament, since an 89-52 triumph over Rider in the first round of the 2006 MAAC Tournament, snapping a four-game losing streak at the venue...The Lady Jaspers won while scoring less than 50 points for the second time this season...There were just 19 fouls called in the game, 10 on Manhattan, nine on Siena...After starting MAAC play 0-2, the Lady Jaspers have now won eight out of their last nine games...The Lady Jaspers are currently on their third different four-game winning streak of the season...The victory was Manhattan's 16th of the season, surpassing last year's win total...The contest was the opener of a doubleheader with the Manhattan and Siena men's teams.
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