Box Score
RIVERDALE, NY – On Wednesday night, the Manhattan College women's basketball opened its home schedule with the annual “Battle of the Bronx” against Fordham. The Jaspers (1-1) led 19-13 after the first quarter, but the Rams (1-1) held Manhattan to just 30 points the rest of the way en route to a 60-49 victory at Draddy Gymnasium.
The Jaspers stormed out of the gate, scoring the first six points of the game and taking a 9-2 lead on a Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) three-pointer barely three minutes in. After the Rams rallied to go ahead 13-12, Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, NJ) hit a jumper to give the lead back to Manhattan. That started a 7-0 Jaspers run, and a trey by Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) made it a six-point game, 19-13, at the end of the first quarter.
“In the first quarter, we pushed the ball up quickly and got some good looks,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “Then we got a little impatient on the offensive end, and that kind of slowed us down.”
Fordham opened the second quarter on a 15-2 run to take a 28-21 advantage before an Irizarry trey and a pair of free throws by Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) cut Manhattan's deficit to two points, 28-26, at halftime. The Jaspers tied it at 28-28 on Ericksen's bucket in the first minute of the second half, then, after the Rams went in front 35-31, Manhattan went on an 8-1 spurt to go up 39-36 with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter. However, on the strength of a G'mrice Davis layup and a Hannah Missry three-pointer, Fordham regained the lead, 41-39, entering the final period.
After a layup by Blake Underhill (Edgewater, NJ) evened the score at 41-41 early in the fourth quarter, the Rams went on a 7-1 rally over the next three minutes to open up a six-point cushion, 48-42. Jumpers by Grimme and Tatum brought Manhattan back within two at 48-46 with 4:42 left, but the Jaspers would pull no closer, as Fordham ended the contest on a 12-3 run to secure a 60-49 triumph.
“We can take a lot of positives away from this game,” Olenowski said. “We were right there going into the fourth quarter, and it was anybody's game until the last five minutes. It's something we can definitely build on, and it will make us a better team.”
Tatum paced the Jaspers with 12 points, while Ericksen contributed eight points and Underhill added seven points to go along with three assists. Grimme pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and also recorded three blocks. The Jaspers shot 29.6 percent (16-of-54) from the floor, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from downtown, and 61.9 percent (13-of-21) at the charity stripe.
Davis and Samantha Clark each had a double-double for the Rams. Davis finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, while Clark tallied 10 points and 12 boards. Missry also notched 10 points to go along with five rebounds. Asnate Fomina, meanwhile, handed out six assists and added eight points for Fordham. The Rams shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from three-point range, and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) at the free throw line.
Manhattan continues its brief two-game homestand with a 2 p.m. matchup against Bucknell (2-1) on Saturday. It will be the first of two games between Manhattan and Bucknell on Saturday, as the two-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Jasper men begin their home slate against the Bison at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Manhattan is 21-15 in its last 36 home openers…The Jaspers have faced Fordham at least once a season since women's basketball was made a varsity sport in 1978-79…This was the 47th all-time meeting between the teams, and Manhattan leads the series 24-23…Fordham has won the last five matchups…The Jaspers took on Fordham in the home opener for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign…Fordham, which played in the Women's NIT last season, is one of three 2015 postseason teams on Manhattan's non-conference schedule…This was the first of just 10 night games the Jaspers will play this season…Manhattan is 1-1 after two games for the fourth straight year...Jasper Sports Network play-by-play announcer Christian Heimall called his first game since missing the entire 2014-15 season while battling lymphoma.