Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College women's basketball team took the court for just the second time in 11 days on Thursday. However, despite the extra rest, the Jaspers (2-17, 1-9 MAAC) were unable to come away with a victory, as nine-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Marist (13-7, 9-2 MAAC) posted a 77-38 triumph at McCann Arena.
After Marist opened the scoring with a three-pointer by Madeline Blais, the Jaspers got back-to-back layups from Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, Pa.) and Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, Pa.) to take a 4-3 lead with 18:26 left in the first half. However, the Red Foxes responded with a 10-0 rally to go up 13-4 at the 15:30 mark. A Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) jumper cut Manhattan's deficit to seven at 13-6 with 14:43 to go before halftime, but Marist ended the half on a 24-9 run to take a 37-15 lead into the locker room.
Marist then opened the second half on a 29-8 spurt to push its advantage to a game-high 43 points, 66-23, with 9:30 remaining. A Taylor Williams (Windsor, Conn.) trey at the 2:11 mark brought the Jaspers within 37 at 73-36, and, after a pair of Marist buckets, Guiton capped off the scoring with a layup just before the buzzer. With the 77-38 victory, Marist handed Manhattan its sixth straight defeat.
Williams scored all of her team-high 11 points in the second half. Kayla Grimme (Altoona, Pa.) had six points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Guiton finished with six points and five boards. Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) led the Jaspers with three assists. As a team, Manhattan shot 29.3 percent (17-of-58) from the field, including 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from three-point land, and missed its only free throw attempt.
Tori Jarosz tallied 19 points, six rebounds and four blocks for the Red Foxes, while Blais recorded 17 points and three blocks. Sydney Coffey added 13 points and six boards, and Katharine Fogarty grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with three assists. Natalie Gomez-Martinez handed out five assists, with Allie Clement and Brittni Lai distributing four assists apiece for Marist. The Red Foxes shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field and outrebounded the Jaspers 44-30. Marist went 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) from downtown and 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) at the charity stripe.
The Jaspers, who had their scheduled home game against Quinnipiac on Monday postponed due to inclement weather, return to Draddy Gymnasium for the first time in two weeks on Saturday afternoon. Manhattan hosts Niagara (8-12, 4-7 MAAC) at 2 p.m. The Purple Eagles notched a 64-36 victory when the squads met at the Gallagher Center on Dec. 7.
NOTES: The Red Foxes beat the Jaspers for the seventh straight time overall and the 12th consecutive time in Poughkeepsie…Marist leads the all-time series 27-23…Manhattan went without a blocked shot for the first time this season…The last time the Jaspers didn't hit a free throw was also at Marist, when they went 0-for-2 at the line on Feb. 17, 2013…Manhattan was held under 40 points for the first time since a 64-36 loss at Niagara on Dec. 7…Williams led the Jaspers in scoring for the third straight contest…Thursday night's starting lineup featured four freshmen—Grimme, Guiton, Irizarry and Williams…Thompson and Guiton both returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the Buffalo game on Dec. 19.