Box Score
HAMDEN, CT – The Manhattan College women's basketball squad took on Quinnipiac, the top team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) on Tuesday night. The Jaspers (5-11, 1-6 MAAC) held the lead early on, but the Bobcats (14-3, 7-0 MAAC), who are ranked No. 2 in this week's College Insider Mid-Major National Poll, ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run take control en route to an 81-38 victory at the TD Bank Sports Center.
Manhattan scored the first four points of the game and led 10-7 after a Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) three-pointer with 6:52 left in the first quarter. After back-to-back Quinnipiac buckets put the Bobcats in front, the Jaspers regained the lead, 12-11, on a Grimme layup at the 4:35 mark. However, Quinnipiac rallied for the final nine points of the quarter to pull ahead 20-12.
Quinnipiac outscored Manhattan 20-7 in the second quarter to extend its advantage to 40-19 at the break. The Bobcats then pushed the margin to 65-30 after three quarters. Quinnipiac opened up its largest lead of the game at 81-35 with 1:02 remaining before KellyAnne O'Reilly (Montville, NJ) was fouled on a running jumper. She converted the free throw to cap the scoring in the Bobcats' 81-38 victory.
Grimme registered 10 points to lead the Jaspers. O'Reilly tallied eight points to go along with a career-high six rebounds. Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY) and Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) grabbed five boards apiece, while Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) handed out three assists. Manhattan shot 30.4 percent (14-of-46) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from three-point range, and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) at the free throw line.
Paula Strautmane led the Bobcats with 16 points. Jen Fay recorded 14 points and five rebounds, while Carly Fabbri and Brittany Martin each contributed nine points. Adily Martucci secured five rebounds to go along with three assists. Quinnipiac shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) from the floor and outrebounded Manhattan 36-33. The Bobcats went 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from downtown and 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) at the charity stripe.
On Sunday, the Jaspers return home for a 2 p.m. matchup with Niagara (4-11, 1-5 MAAC). It will be “Alumni Day” at Draddy Gymnasium, as Manhattan will welcome back former players for an alumni game and reception prior to the contest.
NOTES: Manhattan was without leading scorer Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) for the third straight game…Quinnipiac has won eight of the nine all-time meetings between the programs…The Jaspers' victory at the TD Bank Sports Center last season is the Bobcats' only home MAAC loss since the start of the 2014-15 campaign…Manhattan's road game against Quinnipiac was on a day other than Sunday for the first time since the Bobcats joined the MAAC in 2013-14…O'Reilly's previous career-high was four rebounds at Brown on Nov. 22…Grimme went 3-for-4 at the line, ending her streak of 14 consecutive made free throws…The Jaspers didn't record a block for the second time this season…Alumni interested in attending Sunday's pregame events who haven't already RSVP'ed can contact Assistant Coach Allie Bassetti at abassetti01@manhattan.edu.