Riverdale, N.Y. (February 23, 2007)?With the regular season rapidly coming to a close, the Lady Jaspers appear to be peaking at the right time, as evidenced by their 78-66 win over the Rider Broncs Friday night at Draddy Gymnasium. Caitlin Flood easily surpassed her career high with a 27 point effort on 9-13 shooting, while Kelly Regan added 16 points. The win improves Manhattan's record to 10-18 overall and 7-10 in the MAAC.
Manhattan trailed early in the contest 7-2, but five straight points by Flood evened up the score at seven a piece. With Rider leading 14-13, a jumper by Jenna Franciosa gave Manhattan a one point lead, and once in front, the Lady Jaspers quickly expanded their lead. Franciosa's jumper was the beginning of a 25-6 Lady Jaspers run which spanned over nine minutes of the first half, giving Manhattan a 38-20 lead, their largest of the game. While Rider was able to close the gap some before halftime, Manhattan still went into the break with a 10 point, 40-30 lead.
Rider would cut Manhattan's lead to single digits several times in the second half, but Manhattan was able to do enough offensively to keep the Broncs at bay. Rider began the half with a 7-4 run that cut Manhattan's lead to 44-37, but the Lady Jaspers responded with a 6-0 run of their own to push their lead back to 13 points.
The Broncs would make one final push late in the second half. Trailing 68-55, Rider would go on an 11-4 run, capped off by a Janele Henderson lay-up, that cut Manhattan's lead down to just six at 72-66 with 2:20 remaining. But on Manhattan's next possession, Gabrielle Cottrell knocked down a three-pointer from the right hand corner that pushed Manhattan's lead to a comfortable nine points with 1:58 to play. Rider went scoreless the rest of the way as Manhattan was able to secure their second straight win.
Manhattan shot 54.0 percent as a team, making it the third time in four games the Lady Jaspers have shot better than 50 percent from the field.
The Lady Jaspers return to action Sunday for its regular season finale against Siena College. Tip-off is scheduled for noon from Draddy Gym, with the men's team taking on Iona afterwards at 3:00 p.m. in a game to be broadcast on MSG.
