Riverdale, N.Y. (January 14, 2006)-It was a tale of two halves as Manhattan Women's Basketball battled defending MAAC Champion Canisius College on Saturday afternoon at Draddy Gym. The Lady Jaspers outshot Canisius by an 11-percentage point margin in the first half to take a 35-23 lead into the break. The temperature in Draddy, however, dropped significantly in the second half as Manhattan went cold, shooting only 18 percent from the field during the half, and Canisius escaped with a 51-47 win.
The Manhattan offense shot over 41 percent from the field during the first half, led by sophomore guard
Joann Nwafili's nine points on 4-7 shooting. Nwafili, however, was unable to score in the second half as points were at a premium for the Lady Jasper attack. The Golden Griffin defense tightened up and forced Manhattan to shoot just under 18 percent from the field.
As they turned up their defense in the second half, the Golden Griffs produced more on the offensive end as well. Sophomore forward Laura Granzow, who only had three points at halftime, exploded for 15 points in the second half. The sophomore was 6-7 from the field down the stretch en route to a new career-high 18 points.
With Manhattan clinging to a 45-43 lead and under three minutes remaining on the clock, Granzow dropped in a layup to tie the game for the first time since the score was 11-11. On Manhattan's ensuing possession, Granzow grabbed a defensive rebound and then grabbed an offensive board on the other end of the floor before drawing a foul. With 1:42 remaining, the sophomore sunk both of her free throw attempts to put Canisius on top, 47-45.
Lady Jasper sophomore
Aubrie Dellinger hit a 19-foot jumper from just inside the right arc with 10 seconds remaining to pull Manhattan within two, but Canisius' Jessie Lamparski nailed to foul shots with six ticks left to seal the win.
With the loss, Manhattan falls to 6-9 overall and 3-3 in the MAAC, while Canisius improves to 8-7 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The game can be seen in its entirety tomorrow, January 15 on Regional News Network (RNN) at 4:00 p.m. RNN is available through cable carriers Time Warner, Comcast, and Cablevision, as well as satellite provider DirecTV. To find out what channel the games will be on in your area visit www.RNNTV.com.
Manhattan continues its MAAC schedule on Thursday, January 19, as the Lady Jaspers play host to Saint Peter's College. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m.
