2012-13 Manhattan Women's Basketball Yearbook
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - A day after a thrilling 50-49 victory over Loyola in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament, the Manhattan College women's basketball team was right back in action on Friday afternoon against top-seeded Marist. The Jaspers (8-23) hung with the Red Foxes (24-6) for a half before the seven-time defending champions pulled away for a 72-50 victory at the MassMutual Center.
Manhattan scored the first points of the game, as Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) hit a trey at the 18:27 mark, but Marist quickly countered with a 10-0 run to go ahead. After a trey by Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.), who had 13 first half points, trimmed the Jaspers' deficit to four at 10-6, the Red Foxes went on a 14-4 rally to open up a 24-10 advantage with 7:07 remaining before halftime.
With the Red Foxes leading 27-14, a layup by Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) started an 8-0 Manhattan rally, and the Jaspers got within five on Skrec's layup that made it 27-22 with 1:56 left in the half. Marist scored the final four points of the period to take a 31-22 cushion into the locker room.
Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) drained a trey on Manhattan's first possession of the second half to make it a six-point game, 31-25, but it would get no closer again, as Marist gradually increased its lead over the final 20 minutes. After Katie Reese (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) sank a three-pointer to cut Manhattan's deficit to 43-31 with 12:54 left, Marist went on an 18-6 run over the next seven minutes to increase their lead to 24 points, 61-37. The margin reached a game-high 29 points at 72-43 with 1:36 remaining before Manhattan ended the game on a 7-0 run, getting a three from Roeder and layups by Shayna Ericksen (Hackettstown, N.J.) and Reese, to make the final score 72-50 in favor of the Red Foxes.
"We ran into a juggernaut," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "I thought we played well in the first half, even though we didn't shoot great. Midway through the second half when they got on their run is when they're so difficult because they can score in bunches, and they're so good defensively that it's very, very difficult to match any kind of runs with them. I thought we battled. I thought we played hard. I'm very proud of our players, and my hat's off to Marist. They played well."
Skrec led the way for the Jaspers with a game-high 15 points. She added four rebounds and a team-best four assists. Roeder finished with nine points on a trio of second half three-pointers, while Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) just missed a double-double, posting eight points and nine boards in her final game in a Manhattan uniform. As a team, the Jaspers shot 38.8 percent (19-of-49) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from three-point range, and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) at the free throw line.
Elizabeth Beynnon tallied 14 points and six rebounds to pace the Red Foxes. Leanne Ockenden had 13 points and five boards to go along with three assists, while Madeline Blais chipped in 13 points in just 12 minutes off the bench. Sydney Coffey contributed 11 points and six rebounds, and Emma O'Connor added eight points. Casey Dulin handed out six assists, as Marist tallied 20 assists compared to just seven turnovers. The Red Foxes shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the floor and outrebounded the Jaspers 40-29. Marist went 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from downtown and 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) at the charity stripe.
With the victory, Marist moved on to face fifth-seeded Niagara, a 59-54 winner over Rider, in Saturday's semifinals.
NOTES: Marist knocked off Manhattan for the third time this season and evened the all-time series at 26-26...The Red Foxes have won 68 of their last 70 games against MAAC opponents, with the only two losses during that span coming against the Jaspers...It was the fifth time that the sides met in the postseason, and the first since the 2007 quarterfinals...Marist has won three of the five MAAC Tournament meetings...Manhattan has reached at least the quarterfinal round in 31 of the 32 MAAC Tournaments all-time...The Jaspers collected just three steals in the game, a season-low...Lawrence never missed a game in her career, appearing in 129 consecutive contests, and is Manhattan's all-time leader in games played...During a special ceremony at the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night, former Manhattan great Gina Somma was inducted into the MAAC Honor Roll alongside former men's star Keith Bullock...The MAAC All-Academic Team was also announced on Friday, as Blair, Roeder, Skrec and Jazmine Jarvis (Henderson, Nev.) were recognized for their work in the classroom.