Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – On Sunday afternoon, the Manhattan College women's basketball team took on eight-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Marist at Draddy Gymnasium. The Jaspers (8-19, 7-11 MAAC) hung with the Red Foxes (22-6, 16-2 MAAC) for a while, but Marist ultimately pulled away for an 81-54 victory.
Manhattan got on the board first on a three-pointer by Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) before Marist countered with seven straight points to go up 7-3. After Roeder sank another trey to make it 7-6, Sydney Coffey scored 10 straight points for Marist, as the Red Foxes opened up a 17-8 advantage. Marist increased its lead to 17 points at 26-9, but a Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) three-pointer followed by a Kylla Champagne (Paterson, N.J.) steal and layup cut the margin to 12 at 26-14 with 7:00 left in the first half. The Jaspers trailed by 15 points, 41-26, at halftime.
However, Marist opened the second half on a 19-5 rally to extend its cushion to 27 points, 60-33. The Red Foxes led 67-39 with 8:05 remaining when Isaacs sank a three-pointer to start a 13-5 Manhattan run. An Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) three-ball pulled the Jaspers within 72-51 at the 3:43 mark, but Marist responded with a 9-1 spurt to push its advantage to a game-high 29 points at 81-52. Katie Reese (Boonton Township, N.Y.) put in a layup with two seconds left to account for the final points in the 81-54 Marist victory.
“If you get down, it's very tough to come back and score quickly on them (Marist),” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “What you need to do is play much better half court defense, and you can't let them double you up in rebounds. That was the killer.”
Isaacs paced the Jaspers with 12 points. Roeder, Stec and Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) tallied nine points apiece, and Skrec also handed out eight assists. Manhattan shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field, 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from long range, and 44.4 percent (4-of-9) at the charity stripe.
All five Marist starters scored in double figures, led by Coffey's 16 points. Emma O'Connor had a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Casey Dulin finished with 11 points and five assists. Madeline Blais added 11 points, and Leanne Ockenden tallied 10 points and seven boards. The Red Foxes shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the floor and outrebounded the Jaspers 45-22. Marist went 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from downtown and 14-for-17 (82.4 percent) at the free throw line.
The Jaspers sit tied with Canisius and Niagara for sixth place in the MAAC with two games remaining in the regular season. The first of those contests is a matchup at Saint Peter's (3-24, 2-16 MAAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Manhattan defeated the Peacocks 58-31 when the teams met in Riverdale on Feb. 6.
“We've got a big game on Wednesday, and we've got to play our best basketball to do well there,” Olenowski said. “We've got to get a win. Then we can carry that momentum into the tournament.”
NOTES: The Red Foxes have won five straight against the Jaspers and lead the all-time series 25-23…Marist has won 21 straight MAAC road games since a 48-44 loss to Manhattan at Draddy Gymnasium on Feb. 4, 2012…The Jaspers committed fewer than 10 turnovers for the third time this season and had a positive assist/turnover ratio for the 12th time this season…The 10 three-point field goals in the game equaled Manhattan's season-high set at Army on Nov. 20…With eight assists, Skrec now has 162 this season, the third-highest single-season total in program history…Roeder's third three-pointer of the game was her 500th career field goal.