Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College women's basketball team jumped out to a 15-4 lead after five minutes on defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season champion Iona on Friday night. However, the Jaspers (2-12, 1-4 MAAC) were unable to sustain their early momentum, as the Gaels (7-7, 4-1 MAAC) pulled away for a 79-62 win at Draddy Gymnasium.
Manhattan came storming out of the gate, getting a three-pointer from Maeve Parahus (Congers, N.Y.) on its opening possession and increasing that cushion to 5-0 on a Kylla Champagne (Paterson, N.J.) layup at the 18:28 mark. After a Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) three-pointer and jumpers by Champagne and Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.), Irizarry sank another trey to make it 15-4 with 14:46 remaining in the first half.
The Jaspers still led by eight, 19-11, at the 8:55 mark when Iona went on a 12-3 rally, going up 23-22 on a Damika Martinez jumper with 4:02 left before halftime. A Joy Adams layup extended the Gaels' advantage to three points, 25-22, but Ericksen responded with a layup of her own to make it a one-point game, 25-24. After the teams traded buckets, Iona ended the half on a 6-2 spurt to open up a seven-point cushion, 35-28, at the break.
“We got off to a hot start (offensively),” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “It was disappointing that we couldn't sustain that. We had a couple of lapses, especially right before the end of the first half, when they got a couple of steals and easy baskets. That, unfortunately, set the tempo for the rest of the game.”
An Ericksen jumper on the opening possession of the second half brought Manhattan within five, 35-30, and it was still a seven-point game after Irizarry hit a trey to make it 42-35 with 17:20 left. However, Iona got a three-pointer from Aaliyah Robinson on the other end, and the margin never dipped below 10 points after that. The Gaels' advantage reached a game-high 27 points at 76-49 with 5:29 remaining before the Jaspers ended the contest on a 13-3 run to make the final score 79-62.
Ericksen and Champagne both had double-doubles for the Jaspers. Ericksen finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Champagne notched career-highs with 11 points and 10 boards. She also matched a career-best with three blocks. Irizarry added 11 points and five assists, and Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) handed out a career-high seven assists. As a team, Manhattan distributed a season-high 21 assists compared to just 13 turnovers and shot 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the field. The Jaspers went 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from three-point range and 5-for-6 (83.3 percent) at the free throw line.
Martinez, the two-time reigning MAAC Player of the Year who ranks third nationally in scoring, paced the Gaels with 28 points. Adams, meanwhile, tallied 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, and Robinson added 17 points. Marina Lizarazu dished out 12 assists, while Karynda DuPree contributed seven rebounds and three blocks. Iona shot 47.4 percent (31-of-65) from the floor, 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from downtown, and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) at the charity stripe. The Gaels also outrebounded the Jaspers 42-31.
On Monday, the Jaspers will play their annual “Kid's Day Out” game at 11 a.m. against nine-time defending MAAC champion Marist (7-6, 3-1 MAAC). The Red Foxes haven't lost a conference road game since a 48-44 defeat at Draddy Gymnasium on Feb. 4, 2012.
NOTES: Iona won its fifth straight against Manhattan, but the Jaspers still lead the all-time series, 44-27…Manhattan used the same starting lineup for the third consecutive game, the longest streak of the season…It was Champagne's first career double-double and Ericksen's fourth this season…The last time two Manhattan players recorded double-doubles in the same game, Lindsey Loutsenhizer (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Nadia Peters (10 points, 11 rebounds) did so at Rider on Jan. 31, 2010…This marked the second time this season that two Jaspers had double-figure rebounds in the same contest…Ericksen had 12 boards and Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) added 10 rebounds at Canisius on Dec. 5…Ericksen had her second 20-point game of the season, and her first since tallying 23 points at Holy Cross on Nov. 16…Underhill's previous career-high was six assists against Saint Peter's on Feb. 6, 2014...The game duration was just 1:31, as there were a mere 19 total fouls called in the contest.