Riverdale, N.Y (December 9, 2007) ? Lady Jasper's defense played solid as they won their first MAAC home game over Saint Peter's College today. The offense looked impressive as the team shot 48% from the field and 74% from the free throw line on the game. Senior Caitlin Flood led all scorers with 27 points from 9-15 shooting from the field.
After the festivities where they honored Caitlin Flood's 1,000 career point mark, the Lady Jasper's came out firing in the first half as they went on an 8-0 run to begin the game. Flood scored the first five points of that run and the Lady J's were off and running. But the Peahens would not sit back, as they scored the next seven consecutive points to cut the deficit to one point. Manhattan showed it could answer back as it put together another scoring run, this time outscoring Saint Peter's 12-5 in a six minute span. With the scored tied at 24 with just three minutes left in the half, Flood went to the hoop hard and was fouled. She sank both free throws to put Manhattan up by two. One minute later, Cottrell came down to hit a three pointer to extend Manhattan's lead to five, 29-24 with 1:45 left in the half. After a three by Saint Peter's, Cottrell hit another big three pointer with just three seconds left on the clock which put the Lady J's up 32-27 at the half.
The Lady Jaspers were showing some impressive numbers as Flood and Cottrell combined for 24 of Manhattan's 32 points in the first half. The inside defense was solid, as Freshman Nadia Peters recorded six blocks in the first half alone. The Lady J's came prepared and knew that Saint Peter's was going to come out strong in the second half.
The Peahens did just that as they went on a 7-2 run to open the second half and tie the score at 34 points apiece. Manhattan would soon lose the lead after a pair of free throws from Saint Peter's Lauma Reke. But that would be the last lead Saint Peter's would see as the Lady J's held the Peahens scoreless for almost four minutes. During this time, Manhattan had built up its lead to 11 points and was not going to look back. Saint Peter's leading scorer, Tania Kennedy was held to just three points in the second half after having a 16 point first half. Manhattan scored a season high 78 points as a team to cruise on to a victory.
Flood matched her season high with 27 points as Cottrell contributed 21 points off of 6-11 shooting from the field. The Manhattan defense was anchored by Peters as she finished the game with a total of seven blocks, one shy of tying the Manhattan College single game record. Senior Aubrie Dellinger notched 11 points and five steals for the Lady Jaspers.
Manhattan improves their overall record to 6-3 and 2-0 in MAAC play. The Lady Jaspers will return to action on Saturday, December 15 as they will travel to play a non-conference game against Fairleigh Dickinson University. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
