Box Score
ALBANY, NY – On Saturday afternoon, the Manhattan College women's basketball team took on Marist in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament. The third-seeded Red Foxes, who have won 10 of the last 12 MAAC titles, jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back, ending sixth-seeded Manhattan's (15-16) season with a 70-58 triumph at the Times Union Center.
“We really dug ourselves into a hole,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “When you get behind a team like Marist, it's not easy to catch up. But we played hard, fought back and didn't give up. I'm very proud of this team's effort.”
Marist made five of its first six shots and led 11-0 just 3:29 into the game. It was 14-4 at the 2:47 mark of the first quarter when Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) drained a three to started a 7-3 Manhattan run to pull the Jaspers within six at 17-11.
The Red Foxes took a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter, then opened the period on a 9-4 spurt to push the margin back to 13 points, 28-15. The Jaspers responded with a 7-2 rally of their own to get back within eight, 30-22, but Marist scored nine of the final 13 points in the half to take a 39-26 cushion into the locker room.
After a Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) layup made it 43-30 with 6:57 left in the third quarter, Marist went on a 12-2 spurt to open up its largest lead of the contest, a 55-33 edge. However, Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) hit three layups in the final 1:01 of the period to trim Manhattan's deficit to 55-39 entering the fourth quarter.
A Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA) steal led to an Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) layup early in the final period, and an old-fashioned three-point play by Irizarry at the 8:08 mark trimmed the margin to 12 points, 58-46. The Red Foxes responded with five of the next seven points to go up 63-48 with 6:30 to go before a Thompson trey capped a 5-0 Manhattan rally that made it a 10-point game, 63-53, with 3:15 left. However, the Jaspers wouldn't pull any closer, as Marist advanced to the semifinals with a 70-58 victory.
Tatum, the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, led Manhattan with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Grimme had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while five different Jaspers had six points apiece. Thompson collected three steals. Manhattan outrebounded Marist 38-34 and shot 31 percent (22-of-71) from the field. The Jaspers went 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) from long range and 9-for-15 (60 percent) at the free throw line.
For Marist, First Team All-MAAC selections Tori Jarosz and Sydney Coffey combined for 43 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Jarosz, the MAAC Player of the Year, posted 22 points, nine boards, three assists and three blocks. Coffey, meanwhile, tallied 21 points, five rebounds and three steals. Eileen Van Horn added eight points off the bench for the Red Foxes. As a team, Marist shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from the floor, 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from downtown, and 80.6 percent (25-of-31) at the charity stripe.
Manhattan, which won just three games last season, registered 15 victories during the 2015-16 campaign. That 12-game turnaround is currently tied with Georgetown and Santa Clara for the best in the nation.
“I can't say enough about that turnaround,” Olenowski said. “We had a great season, and there are definitely good things ahead for this team.”
NOTES: The Jaspers have reached at least the quarterfinals in 32 of 35 MAAC Tournaments all-time…Manhattan and Marist met in the MAAC Tournament for the first time since the 2013 quarterfinals…The Red Foxes have won four of the six postseason matchups between the teams and lead the all-time series 29-24…Tatum finished the year with a school-record 101 steals…As a team, the Jaspers collected 331 steals this season, including 12 against Marist…Grimme recorded her seventh double-double of the season…She also established a new single-season program mark with 69 blocks in 2015-16…Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, NJ) returned after missing the previous six games due to injury and had two rebounds in her final collegiate contest, bringing her career total to 641, ninth-most in program history.