Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College women's basketball team opened a three-game homestand by welcoming rival Fordham to Draddy Gymnasium for the annual “Battle of the Bronx” on Saturday night. However, it was the Rams (9-2) who came away with the victory, scoring the first nine points of the match and never looking back en route to a 71-46 triumph over the Jaspers (1-8).
Fordham jumped out to a 9-0 edge just 2:34 into the game. After the Rams extended the margin to 10 points at 16-6, Manhattan got a three-pointer from Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) and a jumper from Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) to reduce its deficit to five, 16-11, with 9:39 left before halftime. However, Fordham responded with eight straight points to bring its lead back to 13 at 24-11. The Jaspers again pulled within six on Katie Reese's (Boonton Township, N.J.) jumper that made it 27-21 at the 4:43 mark, but Fordham ended the half on an 11-4 spurt to take a 38-25 cushion into the locker room.
The Rams began the second half the same way they started the first. Fordham scored the first eight points of the period to increase its lead to 21 at 46-25. Ericksen converted three foul shots to bring Manhattan within 18 before Fordham responded with a 7-2 rally to push the margin to 23 points, 53-30, with 12:15 remaining. Roeder hit a jumper and Ericksen added a layup to cut the deficit to 53-34, but the margin wouldn't dip below 20 points again.
After Fordham's lead reached a game-high 27 points at 68-41 with 2:16 to go, the Jaspers rallied for five straight points, getting a layup from Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.), a pair of free throws from Ericksen, and another foul shot from Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.). Alina Gjerkes then hit a three-pointer to cap Fordham's 71-46 victory. It was the Rams' eighth straight win and the Jaspers' eighth straight defeat.
Ericksen led the Jaspers in scoring for the second straight game, tallying a game-high 14 points. She also grabbed five rebounds. Roeder added 10 points and a team-high six boards, while Skrec had nine points and six assists. As a team, Manhattan shot 37 percent (17-of-46) from the field, 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from downtown, and 60 percent (9-of-15) at the charity stripe.
Abigail Corning posted 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Rams. Samantha Clark, Danielle Padovano and Emily Tapio contributed eight points apiece, and Tapio also notched eight rebounds. Erin Rooney had eight rebounds and eight assists to go along with seven points. Fordham outrebounded Manhattan 38-23 and distributed 24 assists on 27 field goals. The Rams shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) from the floor, 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from long range, and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) at the free throw line.
“The last two teams we've played will probably be in either the NCAA Tournament or WNIT, so that has prepared us well for our conference games,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “We'll look forward to getting better and should be ready to play in conference.”
The Jaspers now have a week off before the start of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. Canisius (4-6, 0-1 MAAC) comes to Riverdale for a 2 p.m. matchup on Sunday, Dec. 29.
NOTES: Manhattan and Fordham have played at least once each season since the Jaspers' program became varsity in 1978-79…The Rams have now won three straight in the series, but Manhattan still holds a 24-21 edge all-time…Fordham leads the 2013-14 all-sport series 7-1…The Jaspers used a different starting lineup for the fifth straight game, with Ericksen reentering the starting five…Roeder moved past Kelly Regan into 15th place on Manhattan's all-time scoring list with 1,111 career points…Marianne Reilly, Manhattan's 2014 inductee into the MAAC Honor Roll at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and a current Associate Athletic Director at Fordham, was interviewed on the JasperVision broadcast at halftime...The nine non-conference games were the Jaspers' fewest since the 2005-06 season…Manhattan began a span where it will play five out of six at home.