Box Score
Click here to view the 2010-11 Manhattan Women's Basketball Media Guide
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Lafayette's Lauren Jackson drained a three-pointer with four seconds left to give the Leopards (4-5) a 53-50 victory over the Manhattan College women's basketball team (5-3) at Draddy Gymnasium on Thursday night. The loss snapped the Lady Jaspers' four-game winning streak.
The Leopards rallied from 16 points down to pull within one, 48-47, on a jumper by LaKeisha Wright with 2:19 remaining, but an Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) bucket on the other end brought Manhattan's lead back to three, 50-47, with 1:53 left. Jackson then tied the game at 50-50 with a trey on Lafayette's next possession. On the ensuing Manhattan possession, Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) pulled down a crucial offensive rebound off a Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) miss at the 58-second mark, then Head Coach John Olenowski called timeout.
The Lady Jaspers ran the shot clock all the way down, but Wentworth missed a jumper and Lafayette's Danielle Fiacco grabbed the rebound with 33 seconds to go. Following a timeout, the Leopards held for one shot, and Wright fed Jackson at the top of the key. Her trey gave Lafayette its first lead of the game, a 53-50 advantage with four seconds left, and Manhattan didn't have time to get a final shot off.
At the start, it looked like the game would be a high-scoring affair. Manhattan made seven of its first nine shots and Lafayette made six of its first eight. The Lady Jaspers led 18-11 with 14:20 left in the first half before the Leopards got back-to-back baskets from Wright and Fiacco to make it a three-point game, 18-15. However, a jumper by Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) at the 10:06 mark ignited an 8-2 Manhattan run over the next 3:43, and a jumper by Alicia Marculitis (Worcester, Mass.) gave the Lady Jaspers an 11-point lead, 28-17, with 6:23 remaining before halftime.
Manhattan led 31-24 at the break and extended its advantage to a game-high 16 points when a steal and three-pointer by Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) made it 44-28 with 14:25 remaining. However, the Lady Jaspers scored one point over the next 5:37, allowing the Leopards to climb back within six at 45-39. Peters was fouled on a steal and coast-to-coast layup, then she made the free throw to push Manhattan's advantage back to nine points, 48-39, with 8:48 left, but Lafayette scored the next eight points and cut its deficit to one on Wright's jumper at the 2:19 mark.
Eight different Lady Jaspers had at least four points in the game, led by a 10-point effort from Peters. She also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and recorded two blocks. Roeder contributed eight points, while Blair, Herrington and Wentworth all had six. Wentworth added five rebounds and tied a career-high with six assists, while Blair notched four boards and a career-high four steals. Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) made her first start of the season and tallied five points to go along with six rebounds and a career-high four assists. Overall, Manhattan shot 33.3 percent (20-of-60), but the Lady Jaspers went just 7-for-30 (23.3 percent) from the field in the second half. The Lady Jaspers shot 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from downtown and 75 percent (3-of-4) at the line.
Fiacco notched a double-double for the Leopards, posting 12 points and 13 rebounds. She also had six blocks. Wright added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Jackson had 11 points and three assists off the bench. Lafayette shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field and outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 43-31. The Leopards shot 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from three-point land and didn't miss a free throw in the game, going 9-for-9 at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers now have a nine-day break before returning to action. Manhattan heads across town for the annual "Battle of the Bronx" at Fordham (6-4) next Saturday at 7 p.m. Last season, the Lady Jaspers knocked off the Rams 63-47.
NOTES: It was the first meeting between the schools since Dec. 7, 1996...The all-time series is now even at 4-4...The contest marked the end of a span where the Lady Jaspers played five out of six at home...Manhattan has led at halftime in six of its seven games this season...The Lady Jaspers used their third different starting lineup of the season, with Lawrence replacing Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) in the starting five...Wentworth also had six assists against NJIT on Dec. 1...Manhattan's four-game winning streak was its longest since also winning four straight from Jan. 2-11, 2004...Lafayette Head Coach Dianne Nolan coached her 65th career game against Manhattan on Thursday night, the most for any opposing coach in program history...Saturday's men's game against Binghamton will be the 800th Manhattan basketball game at Draddy Gymnasium.
To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.
