Pacheco, Loutsenhizer Lead Manhattan Past Saint Peter?s, 66-48

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - On "Pack the House" Night, a season-high crowd of 1,428 at Draddy Gymnasium saw the Manhattan College women's basketball team's top two scorers at their best.  Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) and Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) each topped the 20-point mark, combining for 43, to lead the Lady Jaspers (10-10, 5-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) to a 66-48 victory over Saint Peter's (7-13, 3-6 MAAC) on Friday night.  Pacheco tallied a game-high 22 points and Loutsenhizer finished with 21, as Manhattan notched its third win in its last four games.

"Michelle was consistent all night long, and Lindsey did a great job hanging in there inside," Head Coach John Olenowski said.

Manhattan opened up an 11-4 advantage early in the first half before Saint Peter's came back with five straight points to get within two, 11-9.  However, a Pacheco three-pointer late in the shot clock on the other end sparked a 12-3 Manhattan rally that saw the lead balloon to double-digits, 23-11, with 6:07 remaining in the first half.  The Lady Jaspers held that 12-point edge for the remainder of the half and went into the locker room leading 29-17.

After the Lady Jaspers extended their lead to 40-25 with 13:34 to go in the game, Saint Peter's responded with an 11-2 rally to make it a six-point game, 42-36, and prompt a Manhattan timeout.  Following the timeout, Loutsenhizer got an offensive rebound and putback, then Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) drained a trey after a Saint Peter's turnover to push the lead back to 11 points, 47-36.

Pacheco was fouled while shooting a three-pointer at the 7:00 mark, and she sank all three foul shots to increase the lead to 14.  The Lady Jaspers ended the game on a 24-12 run and opened up a game-high 20-point lead when Laura Rivera's (Elmont, N.Y.) coast-to-coast layup made it 66-46.  The Peahens' Adenike Oyesile hit a jumper with three seconds left to finish off the scoring in Manhattan's 66-48 triumph.

"I'm proud of our effort tonight," Olenowski said.  "We didn't let them get inside, and our rebounding was a lot better tonight.  We knew that we wanted to get over that hump and past .500 (in the MAAC), and the crowd certainly helped as well.  This was a very good atmosphere for a college basketball game."

Pacheco had six assists, five rebounds and three steals to go along with her 22 points, while Loutsenhizer went 10-for-13 from the field and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.  Wentworth added seven points, and Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) and Kerri White (Flushing, N.Y.) each had six, as the starting lineup contributed 62 of the Lady Jaspers' 66 points.  Manhattan shot 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from long range, and 80 percent (8-of-10) at the charity stripe.

Jynae Judson finished with 15 points and six rebounds to lead the Peahens.  Quiana Porter added eight points and six boards, while Oyesile also tallied eight points.  Alena Ali and Charlene Riddick each dished out three assists for Saint Peter's.  The Peahens shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field, 30 percent (3-of-10) from downtown, and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) at the free throw line.

The win, coupled with Siena's overtime loss at Niagara, moved Manhattan into a tie for third place midway through the conference season.  The Lady Jaspers are back on the road on Sunday afternoon, when they visit Rider (2-18, 0-9 MAAC) for a 2 p.m. tilt.  Manhattan began its MAAC campaign with a 56-44 victory over the Broncs at Draddy Gymnasium on Jan. 3.