Quick Hits
* The teams will be matching up for the first time over 37 years, when the Scarlet Knights, then of the Atlantic 10, defeated the Jaspers 79-71 in overtime on Dec. 17, 1983.
* Manhattan will be in search of its first-ever win against a Big 10 opponent (0-6).
* The Jaspers enter Wednesday's match-up, after posting a split of this past weekend's series with Quinnipiac.
* On Friday, the Green & White bested the Bobcats 71-70 to snap an eight-game losing streak in OT games, thanks to sophomore Emily LaPointe's game-winning putback at the buzzer.
Manhattan's overtime win was its first in nine years and a day, when the Jaspers defeated Monmouth, then of the NEC, 71-59 on Dec. 17, 2011.
How To Watch
Wednesday's game will be streamed through the Big Ten Network + for $9.95 by clicking HERE.
LaPointe Calls Game
LaPointe's putback at the buzzer lifted Manhattan to the aforementioned 71-70 victory over Quinnipiac on Friday. LaPointe finished with 15 points, a career-high nine assists and five rebounds over a career-best 44 minutes.
FINAL // LaPointe wins it for Manhattan at the buzzer! #playGREEN@ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/NFcuKneYO0
— Manhattan WBB (@Manhattan_WBB) December 19, 2020
She followed that up with eight points, eight assists and six rebounds on Sunday, and ranks among the league leaders in scoring (10.0 ppg-18th), assists (3.8 apg-5th) and rebounding (5.4 rpg-13th).
Party Like It's 2007
Thanks to defeating Quinnipiac for just the second time in program history, Manhattan started MAAC play with three-straight wins for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
Manhattan Is ...
* 11-0 the last three-plus years when scoring at least 70 points.
* 3-0 when leading at the half this season.
* 2-0 in games decided by five points or less this year.
Leading The Way
Senior Courtney Warley is 25th nationally with a MAAC-leading 10.6 rpg, while also pacing the Jaspers and ranking among the MAAC leaders with 13.0 ppg (t-7th), 2.8 spg (3rd) and 1.2 bpg (t-5th). She has paced Manhattan on the glass in all five games, and registered her second double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) in Friday's victory.
For Her Career ...
Warley, who paced the Jaspers in rebounding all five games, has 16 double-doubles, while hitting for double-figures on the glass 35 times.
Last Time Against The Big Ten ...
Manhattan dropped a 71-51 decision to Nebraska on December 22, 2019, with LaPointe scoring 17 points and graduate student Gabby Cajou chipping in with 14 points and four assists. Head Coach Heather Vulin is 0-2, all-time, Big Ten opposition (Penn State-2017).
Over Two Career Games Against Big Ten Opposition ...
Cajou is averaging 10.5 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.5 spg.
DYK???
The Jaspers last qualified for the postseason in 2012 (WBI), and saw their season come to a close at Big Ten member Minnesota.
Lending A Helping Hand
The Jaspers 23 assists in Friday's win over Quinnipiac were the most since registering 24 in back-to-back wins over Niagara and Saint Peter's.
Strange, But True
Junior Dee Dee Davis is the lone Jasper to notch double-digits in points in all five games, but hasn't paced the squad in scoring. In Friday's win, she hit three of her four three pointers in OT, en route to scoring 14 points with six caroms.
Welcome Back
After missing all of last year due to injury, Davis ranks among the league leaders in scoring (12.2 ppg-11th), rebounding (5.2 rpg-15th) and steals (1.8 spg-10th). In 2018-19, she led the team with 8.9 ppg, shooting 40 percent, including 33.9 percent from deep.
Leading The Way
LaPointe paced the squad in scoring for the 15th time in her 34-game Jasper career with 16 points against Stony Brook in the opener.
The Story Of Miceus
Graduate student Pamela Miceus has ascended from walk-on to scholarship player, to important reserve and now finally starter. She is averaging 5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 1.2 bpg (t-5th MAAC), and scored seven points with five rebounds and two blocks in Friday's win over Quinnipiac.
Filling It Up
Cajou has done a little bit everything in the early part of the season. She dished out seven assists vs. Stony Brook, before scoring 10 points with six rebounds in the first win over Rider and a season-high 12 points the last time out at Quinnipiac. On the year, she is averaging 7.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 3.4 apg (7th MAAC).
High Five
Cajou registered her 24th career five-assist performance in Friday's victory over Quinnipiac, handing out five dimes.
For Starters
Manhattan has started the line-up of Cajou, Davis, LaPointe, Miceus and Warley have started all five games.
Balling From The Bench
* Senior Lizahya Morgan scored nine points, on the strength of three triples, in just eight minutes on Saturday vs. Quinnipiac.
* In Friday's win, junior Sydney Watkins canned two threes.
* Sophomore Christina Katsamouri registered a career-high five points in the win over Quinnipiac.
* Senior Sini Mäkelä averaged 4.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg over 23.0 mpg in Manhattan's sweep of Rider.
* Freshman Nia Bailey made a huge impact in the second win at Rider, hitting a free throw, before assisting on back-to-back Warley buckets that sparked a game-ending 24-10 run.
Recruiting Pays Dividends
In each of the last two seasons, Vulin's recruiting classes paid immediate dividends as the Jaspers were paced in scoring each year by a freshman with Davis topping the charts in 2018-19 and LaPointe a year ago.
Preseason #1
Manhattan was selected as the MAAC Preseason No. 1 for the 2020-21 season. The Jaspers top the MAAC's preseason coaches poll for the first time in the modern era of the league. The no. 1 preseason ranking is also the Jaspers' highest since the 2002-03 season, when Manhattan was selected to finish second in the league. The Jaspers went on to win the MAAC Championship over Siena that season.
Three's A Crowd
In addition to the team accolades, Warley and LaPointe were named to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team, while Cajou was tabbed to the Third Team.
Notable From Rider
* Warley was dominant in the Jaspers' sweep of Rider, averaging 16.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg and 3.5 spg, highlighted by going for 14 points and 13 rebounds in the finale.
* With her nine rebounds in the opener, she joined Kayla Grimme (2013-18) as the lone players in school history with 700 rebounds and 100 blocks.
* Manhattan outscored Rider 60-36 in the paint for the weekend, while posting a 22-11 advantage in fastbreak points.
* The Jaspers held the Broncs without a field goal in the second quarter of Saturday's victory.
* Vulin became the sixth coach in program history to eclipse the 50-win plateau thanks to registering back-to-back victories.
In The All-Time Jasper Career Annals ...
* Warley ranks eighth with 732 career rebounds, and with 63 more will match Lindsay Loutsenhizer (2008-12).
* She is fifth in program history with 115 blocks, 17 behind Eve Walters (1998-2003).
* Cajou is 10th with 312 career assists, and with 26 would match Michelle Pacheco (2006-10).
* Miceus is ninth with 77 career blocks, two behind Brita Hinkle (1999-2001) and four behind Gina Somma (1992-96).
#playGREEN
The Jaspers' team motto "playGREEN" is a concept developed by Vulin. For the team, playGREEN is a commitment to the pursuit of excellence. Vulin expects her players to have that mindset every day, as they play for their teammates, for their program, and to represent Manhattan College at a championship level. The Jaspers use #playGREEN on all of the team's social media channels.
The Newcomers
Manhattan welcomes three freshman and one transfer for the 2019-20 season.
* Jenna Jordan joins the squad from St. Francis Brooklyn, where she averaged 6.3 ppg, shooting 46.3 percent as a freshman.
* Bailey, who hails from New Rochelle, was named a 2019-20 Conference I All-Section selection, in addition to being named a Journal News/LoHud Girls Basketball Honorable Mention for Westchester and Putnam Counties.
* Favour Mbeledeogu won the Pennsylvania District Three Class 2A championship as a member of the Linden Hall for Girls squad and also played for Raptors Academy (2016) and Deepbond Academy (2017).
* Rounding out the newcomers, Emma Wilson-Saltos joins the team from the Bronx's Preston High School, and is the first player out of Preston to play Division I basketball in 16 years.
United For Justice
Earlier this year, the MAAC launched its United for Justice campaign. For the 2020-21 season, the MAAC will work both internally at the conference office and with all 11 member institutions to advance and execute strategies to combat racial injustices within our society. The MAAC and its member institutions will work to address the long-standing history of systemic racism and inequality that minorities in this country have and still currently face, with a goal to educate those around us and to create substantial change in our communities. The MAAC basketball programs have united to focus their messaging platform for the upcoming season on Black Lives Matter. Specifically, the coaches will be showcasing the Black Lives Matter messaging on warm up shirts and uniform patches.
About Rutgers
Rutgers enters Wednesday's game with a 4-1 record and is led by reigning EspnW National Player of the Week Arella Guirantes, who is averaging a team-best 24.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2.8 bpg and 2.6 spg. Also scoring in double-figures for the Scarlet Knights are Diamond Johnson (16.4 ppg) and Zipporah Broughton (12.0 ppg), fueled a Rutgers attack that is averaging a blistering 86.4 ppg.
Head Coach Heather Vulin
Heather Vulin was named the eighth head coach in Manhattan College program history on April 25, 2016. A 1999 graduate of Minnesota-Morris, she earned nearly two decades of coaching experience before arriving in Riverdale. She began her career as a graduate assistant at North Dakota State from 2000-02, then spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart from 2002-08. Vulin was on the staff at Villanova for seven seasons (2008-15) before spending the 2015-16 campaign as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Tech. She won her first game as a head coach against Holy Cross, defeating the Crusaders 60-56 on November 11, 2016 at home. She won her first MAAC game against Siena on December 30, 2016, when the Jaspers defeated the Saints 68-66 in Riverdale.
Vulin has continued to raise the standard for the women's basketball program since her arrival at Manhattan. She mentored Warley to the program's first MAAC First Team selection since 2011 and the program's second MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Award. In addition, she guided LaPointe to the unanimous 2019-20 MAAC Rookie of the Year award, and Cajou to the program's first MAAC Sixth Player of the Year award in 2018. The Jaspers have earned a spot in the MAAC quarterfinals for three-straight years, and the squad has moved from a 10th-place pick in the MAAC preseason poll in 2017 to first this season.
The Coaching Staff
Vulin's staff consists of Allie Bassetti, Callan Taylor, Rena Wakama and Kiambra Griffin.
In her fifth season, Bassetti, serves as an assistant coach and the team's recruiting coordinator. She joined Vulin at Manhattan after serving as the director of basketball operations at American from 2013-16. Also in her fifth season and fourth as an assistant coach, Taylor was the 2011-12 NEC player of the year at Sacred Heart and played basketball professionally overseas before arriving in Riverdale. Wakama is in herfourth season with the Jaspers and her second as an assistant coach. A 2014 graduate of Western Carolina, she played professional basketball, making stops in the United Kingdom and the FIBA African Basketball League.
Griffin joined the Jaspers last year as director of basketball operations. Prior to that, the 2018 Davidson grad was a graduate assistant at Columbia.
2019-20 Recap
Manhattan finished the 2019-20 regular season 15-14 overall and 12-8 in conference play, tying for third place in the MAAC rankings, the program's best conference finish since 2011. The Jaspers went 6-1 down the stretch, winning their last five games of the season to secure a #4 seed and a first-round bye in the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women's Basketball Championship.
Warley's World
Warley earned unanimous 2020-21 Preseason All-MAAC First Team honors, after averaging 11.6 ppg and 8.7 rpg, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and nabbing 2.4 spg (38th in NCAA Division I) on her way to becoming just the eighth player in program history to earn MAAC First Team honors.
What's A Jasper?
Manhattan is the only athletic program in Division I with the "Jaspers" nickname. The unique moniker honors one of Manhattan's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C. Brother Jasper served Manhattan College in the late 1800s and was the first coach of Manhattan's baseball team. He is also credited as the creator of the "seventh-inning stretch," which has become a time-honored tradition at ballparks across the country. During a game in the 1880s, Brother Jasper noticed students getting restless in the middle of the seventh inning of a close game, so he called timeout and told the students to stand up a stretch for a few minutes before resuming the game. Since Manhattan regularly played the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in the 1880s and into the 1890s, the tradition spread into the major leagues.
AC Here We Come!
The 2020-21 men's and women's MAAC Championships will take place March 9-13 in Atlantic City, NJ. The tournament will be held at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
Trend Setter
Manhattan Athletic Director Marianne Reilly (1978-82) was the Jaspers' first-ever scholarship women's basketball player. She was also the first player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, finishing with 1,305 points, and was the first female inducted into the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame.
Up Next
Manhattan will ring in 2021 at Draddy Gymnasium, hosting Saint Peter's on Friday, January 1 and Saturday, January 2 with both games starting at 6:00 pm.