Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College women's basketball team held Sacred Heart to 22 points in the second half, helping the Lady Jaspers (2-5) overcome a seven-point halftime deficit and post a 68-62 victory over the Pioneers (0-5) at Draddy Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, Manhattan snapped a five-game losing streak.
Sacred Heart led 40-33 at halftime, but the Lady Jaspers came out firing to start the second half. Manhattan scored the first nine points of the period on a pair of treys by Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) and another by Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.) to turn its seven-point deficit into a two-point lead. The Pioneers scored the next four points to regain the lead, but another trey by Herrington put the Lady Jaspers back in front, 45-44, with 13:38 remaining.
Manhattan increased its lead to five at 59-54 before Kaitlin Sowinski drained four consecutive free throws to cut the margin to one, 59-58. Herrington followed with a free throw and a three-pointer to bring Manhattan's lead back to five, 63-58, before back-to-back Sacred Heart baskets got the Pioneers back within one with 33 seconds left on the clock.
With Sacred Heart forced to foul to stop the clock, Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) drained a pair at the line with 22 seconds remaining to bring the lead to three, 65-62. After Sacred Heart's Alisa Apo missed a three and Herrington corralled the rebound, she went 1-for-2 at the line to make it a two-possession game with 13 seconds left. Apo missed another trey with five seconds to go, and Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) hit two free throws with one second remaining to finish off the Lady Jaspers' 68-62 victory.
“This was a good win going into conference play,” said Manhattan Assistant Coach Sonia Burke, who acted as the team's head coach for the third straight game. “I thought we had a great all-around team defensive effort. This win was definitely a confidence builder.”
The Lady Jaspers scored the first five points of the game before Sacred Heart charged back to force a 7-7 tie. After a Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) layup put Manhattan up 13-9 at the 13:12 mark, the Pioneers went on an 11-0 run to open up a 20-13 advantage. Sacred Heart maintained that cushion for the rest of the first half and the lead reached 10 when an Apo trey made it 40-30 with 52 seconds remaining before halftime. Wentworth nailed a three with 31 seconds left in the half to cut the margin to seven, 40-33, at the break.
Herrington, who made her first career start, drained a career-high five three-pointers and paced the Lady Jaspers with 17 points. She added five rebounds, two assists and three steals. Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.) poured in 16 points and tied for the team-high with six rebounds, while Pacheco chipped in with 10 points and distributed a career-high seven assists. Wentworth finished with nine points and six boards. Loutsenhizer also tallied six rebounds and Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded three blocks. The Lady Jaspers shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field, including 40 percent (8-of-20) from three-point range, and 50 percent (8-of-16) at the free throw line.
Apo had 17 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, as Wentworth held her to 1-for-8 shooting in the second half. Sowinski tallied 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds, while Callan Taylor added 15 points for the Pioneers. Taylor also dished out a team-best four assists. After shooting a blistering 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the field in the first half, Sacred Heart was held to just 28 percent (7-of-25) shooting in the second half. For the game, the Pioneers shot 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from the field, including 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from beyond the arc, and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) at the charity stripe. Sacred Heart outrebounded Manhattan 34-32.
Up next, the Lady Jaspers continue their four-game homestand with their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) contest of the season. Loyola (3-2, 0-0 MAAC) visits Draddy Gymnasium on Friday, Dec. 5 for a 5 p.m. showdown that is the opening game of a Manhattan basketball doubleheader. The men's team hosts Canisius in its MAAC opener at 7 p.m. Both games will be webstreamed live at www.gojaspers.com as a part of the JasperVision platform.
NOTES: This was the first all-time meeting between the programs...Manhattan is 2-0 against teams from the Northeast Conference this season...Pacheco's previous career-high was five assists, set three times, including the season opener against St. Francis (NY)...Herrington has drained at least one three-pointer in every game this season...She is the first Lady Jaspers player to sink five treys in a game since Gabrielle Cottrell hit six against Iona on Feb. 15, 2008...The Lady Jaspers used a different starting lineup for the third consecutive game, with Herrington and Peters replacing Pacheco and Regan in the starting five...Manhattan won its final game before the two December MAAC games for the second consecutive season.
