Albany, N.Y. (March 7, 2008) ? The Lady Jaspers lost a tough one to #5 seeded Saint Peter's College today in their first game of the 2008 MAAC Championship Tournament. The senior class went out with a bang as all four of them combined for 42 of Manhattan's points. They were lead by Gabrielle Cottrell's 21 points and Caitlin Flood's 18 point performances.
In the first half, Manhattan fell behind early and was staring at a six point deficit, 13-7, with just over 11 minutes to play in the half. But the Lady Jaspers put together a quick run and after a drive and a lay-up by Joanna Nwafili, the game was now tied at 13 with 9:18 to go. The Lady J's held the Peahens scoreless for a five minute stretch in the half. Towards the end of the half, Flood converted the bucket and drew the foul as she sank her free throw and put the Lady J's up 23-21. Manhattan would finish the half strong as they would go into the locker room leading Saint Peter's 29-23.
Flood ended the half with 11 points and two rebounds. Fellow senior Gabrielle Cottrell had nine halftime points off of three long balls. The Lady J's were looking to keep up their momentum from the first half and close out the game.
Right out of the gate, Joann Nwafili hit a lay-up in the opening 10 seconds of the second half increase Manhattan's lead. After two consecutive three pointers from Cottrell, the Lady Jaspers had a comfortable 12 point lead, 36-24, with less than 17 minutes to play. But Saint Peter's was not going to go away, as they cut Manhattan's lead to 4, 36-32 with 15 minutes left in the game. For most of the second half the game went back and forth, with the Lady Jaspers keeping a safe distance from the Peahens. The underneath play by junior Kelly Regan really helped Manhattan stay out in front. With 4:40 left in the game, Nwafili came up with a monstrous block that led to a Cottrell bucket and put the Lady J's up four, 60-56.
But it was getting down to crunch time and Saint Peter's Lauma Reke helped Saint Peter's take their first lead of the half, 64-62 with just over a minute left in regulation time. Cottrell came down and hit a three that bounced around the rim to put Manhattan back on top by 1, 65-64 and time was running out. The Peahens tied the game on 1-2 free throw shooting from Reke, but quickly regained the ball back on a steal near mid court. Saint Peter's had a four second differential between the game clock and shot clock, but was looking to get a basket with as little time left as possible.
With six seconds left, it was Reke once again as she hit a three from the corner to put Saint Peter's up 68-65. Manhattan quickly inbounded the ball and got to half court calling a timeout. They were left 1.6 seconds on the clock for a chance to tie the game. But the Peahens tangled up the ball and snuck away with the victory.
Cottrell was 5-8 from three point range for her 21 points and also grabbed five boards. Flood missed two shots all night, going 7-9 from the field and grabbing six boards. Nwafili dished out six assists and grabbed four boards while contributing four points, respectively.
The Manhattan College Lady Jaspers finish the season 15-15 overall. They finished in fourth place in the conference and harbored two All-MAAC Team members.
