Manhattan University Athletics

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Coming off its third win of the season at Saint Peter's on Saturday, the Manhattan College women's basketball team hung right with Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season champion Quinnipiac on Tuesday night.  The Jaspers (3-24, 2-16 MAAC) led by as many as seven points in the first half and played the Bobcats (26-3, 18-0 MAAC) tight throughout before ultimately falling, 82-71, at Draddy Gymnasium.

“That was one of our best efforts of the year,” Head Coach John Olenowski said.  “Quinnipiac's a very good team and we gave them all they could handle and then some.  We're definitely headed in the right direction as we come up on the (MAAC) Tournament.”

There were four ties and six lead changes in the first half.  Both teams were hot from the floor early on, as Manhattan made five of its first six shots and Quinnipiac sank four of its first five.  Leading 12-11 at the 13:27 mark, the Jaspers went on a 10-4 run over the next three minutes to open up a 22-15 advantage.

Quinnipiac battled back to tie the score at 23-23, but a jumper by Taylor Williams (Windsor, Conn.) with 7:34 remaining put the Jaspers in front, 25-23.  After the Bobcats rattled off six straight points to go up 29-25, Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drained a three-pointer and Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) followed with a layup to give the lead back to Manhattan, 30-29.  A three-pointer by Jasmine Martin made it 32-30 in favor of the Bobcats before an Ericksen jumper knotted the game again at 32-32.  However, Val Driscoll followed with a layup to start an 8-3 Quinnipiac run to end the half, and the Bobcats went into the locker room with a 40-35 cushion.

After an Ericksen jumper cut the margin to three, 40-37, early in the second half, the Bobcats rallied for 15 of the next 20 points to build their largest lead of the game, a 55-42 advantage with 15:28 remaining.  With Quinnipiac leading 59-46, Kayla Grimme (Altoona, Pa.) hit a layup to start a 6-0 Manhattan spurt that brought the Jaspers within seven, 59-52, with 10:48 left.

The Bobcats regained a 12-point advantage at 68-56 before two Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) free throws sparked a 9-0 Jaspers run.  Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) capped the rally with a pair of foul shots that made it a three-point game again, 68-65, with 6:59 to go.  However, Manhattan would pull no closer.  Quinnipiac went on a 16-4 spurt to push its lead back to 13 points, and the Bobcats remained undefeated in MAAC play with an 82-71 triumph over the Jaspers.

Ericksen tallied 17 points to lead four Jaspers in double figures.  She also registered four steals.  Stec contributed 16 points and three steals, while Grimme posted 14 points and six rebounds.  Williams added 13 points and Underhill handed out 13 assists, one shy of tying the program single-game record, to go along with five boards and four steals.  As a team, the Jaspers shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field, 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from long range, and 71.4 percent (15-of-21) at the charity stripe.

For the Bobcats, Driscoll had a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds.  Samantha Guastella recorded 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and five blocks, while Brianah Ramos tallied eight points off the bench.  Nikoline Ostergaard distributed five assists for the Bobcats, who outrebounded the Jaspers 38-30.  Quinnipiac went 28-for-58 (48.3 percent) from the floor, 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from downtown, and 18-for-24 (75 percent) at the free throw line.

On Thursday, the Jaspers play their final road game of the season at Monmouth (11-17, 7-11 MAAC).  The contest, which gets underway at 5 p.m., will be broadcast live on ESPN3.  Monmouth posted a 73-69 victory when the squads met at Draddy Gymnasium on Jan. 16.