Riverdale, N.Y. (December 30, 2007) ? Manhattan fell to Big East opponent Villanova University today at Draddy Gymnasium, 69-45. In her second game this season, junior Kelly Regan dropped a team high 16 points while also grabbing four boards on the day.
With Manhattan playing their last non-conference game of the season, the Lady J's wanted to finish off 2007 with a win. In the beginning of the game, Villanova jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. But on Manhattan's next two possessions, Aubrie Dellinger hit a fading three pointer followed by a Caitlin Flood jump shot to put Manhattan ahead. At the first media timeout of the game, Manhattan was only down 10-9 and looking to put pressure on the visiting Wildcats. They did just that as they took a 15-13 on a 20 foot jumper from Regan. But the Lady Jaspers fell victim to a 51% field goal shooting by Villanova. The game saw three ties and six lead changes as the Lady J's trailed 39-22 at halftime. Regan had 10 points at the break, going 5-9 from the field alongside Dellinger's five points for the Lady Jaspers.
With Manhattan facing a big deficit, they knew they were going to have to leave it all on the floor in the second half. But Villanova proved to be too strong for the Lady J's as they went on to win and improve their record to 10-3.
As a team, they Lady J's only turned the ball over 10 times in the game, their second lowest total this season. Regan's 16 points was a season high for her as senior Gabrielle Cottrell finished the game with eight points, going 2-4 from three point range.
Manhattan falls to 7-6 on the season and returns to action on January 5, as they will travel to take on Loyola College at 2:00 pm. The Lady J's are 2-0 in MAAC play and look to improve on their conference record.
