Box Score
HACKENSACK, NJ – After putting up 101 points in its exhibition victory over Felician last weekend, the Manhattan College women's basketball team had an offensive performance that was just as impressive in its regular season opener. The Jaspers (1-0) rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to post an 85-78 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (0-1) at Stratis Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Manhattan stormed out of the gate, building a 20-13 lead less than seven minutes into the contest. Fairleigh Dickinson ended the first quarter on a 6-2 run, though, to trim the Jaspers' lead to three, 22-19, after the opening 10 minutes. The Knights carried their momentum into the second quarter, scoring the first 12 points of the period to go up 31-22. After Manhattan got back within four at 35-31, Fairleigh Dickinson went on an 8-0 run to increase its advantage to 43-32, and the Knights led 45-38 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Manhattan outscored Fairleigh Dickinson 27-7. The Jaspers took a 52-50 lead on an Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) three-pointer at the 4:53 mark, then, after an Erika Livermore bucket tied it at 52-52, another Tatum trey started a 13-0 Manhattan run that put the Jaspers in front 65-52 entering the final period.
A Tatum layup early in the fourth brought Manhattan's lead to a game-high 15 points at 67-52, but the Knights chipped away at the margin, eventually pulling within one at 77-76 with 1:49 remaining. Tatum sank a three on the next possession to bring the margin back to four points, 80-76, then, after a pair of Livermore free throws, Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) hit a layup to make it an 82-78 game with 37 seconds left. Fairleigh Dickinson missed a three-pointer on the other end, and Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) grabbed the rebound to ice the victory. The Jaspers sank three free throws down the stretch to make the final score 85-78.
“This was a great team victory,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “We showed a lot of character after being down 12, and we had a terrific third quarter.”
Tatum led four Jaspers in double-figures with 18 points, all of which came in the second half. Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) finished with 16 points, while Williams tallied 13 points. Blake Underhill (Edgewater, NJ) distributed a game-high six assists for the Jaspers, who shot 40.5 percent (32-of-79) from the field. Manhattan went 11-for-22 (50 percent) from three-point range and 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) at the charity stripe. The Jaspers also outrebounded the Knights 50-41.
Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) came close to a triple-double, finishing with 11 points to go along with career-highs of 14 rebounds and seven blocks. Ross, meanwhile, just missed a double-double of her own with nine points, 10 boards and four blocks. The Jaspers had 13 blocks in the game to establish a new single-game program record.
“We had a number of great individual performances today,” Olenowski said. “Kayla came up huge on both the offensive and defensive ends, and Crystal hit perhaps the biggest basket of the game.”
Kelsey Cruz tallied 41 points for Fairleigh Dickinson, and Livermore had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Madelynn Comley and Kiana Brown handed out three assists apiece, while Brianna Thomas registered three blocks. As a team, the Knights shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the floor, 25 percent (2-of-8) from long distance, and 66.7 percent (20-of-30) at the free throw line.
The Jaspers open their home schedule on Wednesday, when they face Fordham (0-0) at 7 p.m. in the annual “Battle of the Bronx.”
NOTES: Manhattan opened the season against Fairleigh Dickinson for the third straight year…This was the 20th all-time matchup between the schools, and Manhattan leads the series 13-7…Ross and Tatum, both transfers from James Madison, got the start in their Manhattan debuts, alongside Irizarry, Underhill and Kylla Champagne (Paterson, NJ)…The Jaspers have won their first road game of the season in each of the last three campaigns…Manhattan cracked the 80-point plateau for the first time since an 86-53 victory over East Tennessee State on Nov. 19, 2011…The previous school record for blocks was 11, which was done three times (Nov. 30, 1980 vs. LIU Post; Dec. 1, 1992 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson; Dec. 28, 1993 vs. Monmouth)…Manhattan hadn't grabbed 50 rebounds as a team since pulling down 52 against Niagara on Jan. 8, 2011…Grimme's previous career highs were 12 rebounds at Ohio on Nov. 30, 2014 and five blocks vs. Marist on Jan. 12, 2015…The last time two Jaspers had 10 rebounds in the same game, Grimme and Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, PA) each grabbed 10 at Quinnipiac on Jan. 18, 2015…Morgan Graziano (Holmdel, NJ) made her collegiate debut, pulling down a rebound and recording a block.