Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - In one of its most efficient offensive performances of the season, the Manhattan College women's basketball team (13-6, 5-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) led from start to finish in a 63-47 victory over Rider (2-17, 2-6 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The Lady Jaspers distributed a season-high 21 assists on 22 made baskets, a staggering rate of 95.5 percent. Eight different Lady Jaspers had at least one assist and six tallied at least seven points, as Manhattan topped Rider for the second time in 11 days.
"We really came to play defensively tonight," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "We had good pressure and forced a lot of steals. So, I was very happy with our defense tonight."
The Lady Jaspers led from start to finish. Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) nailed a trey to get things started, then a jumper by Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) made it 5-0. After Rider pulled within one at 5-4, Manhattan went on a 13-0 run, opening up an 18-4 advantage on a Loutsenhizer three-pointer at the 9:54 mark. The Broncs trimmed their deficit to seven at 24-17, but the Lady Jaspers scored the final three points of the half to take a 27-17 lead into the locker room. Rider shot just 19 percent (4-of-21) from the field in the first half.
Manhattan pushed its lead back to 13 points early in the second half, but Rider continued to hang around, getting back within seven, 45-38, on a jumper by Carleigh Brown with 7:46 remaining. However, that's as close as Rider would get. On the next Manhattan possession, Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) was fouled while hitting a layup, and she converted the free throw to bring the lead back to double figures. That three-point play ignited a 16-5 Manhattan run over the next 4:06, and the margin reached a game-high 18 points when an Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) trey put the Lady Jaspers up 61-43 with 3:16 to play. A jumper by Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) with 16 seconds left finished off the scoring, as Manhattan picked up its fifth win in six games, 63-47.
"It was important to get this one tonight because we haven't been playing well at Draddy," Olenowski said. "It was a nice one to get and gives us a big boost as we head out of here this weekend."
Herrington came off the bench and drained five three-pointers for a game-high 15 points. She also had three assists and three steals. Wentworth had 11 points to go along with a career-high nine assists and four steals, while Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) finished with 10 points. Loutsenhizer posted nine points and five rebounds, and Peters tallied eight points, seven boards and four assists. The Lady Jaspers shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from long range, and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) at the charity stripe.
"Alyssa's been struggling for the past few games, so we decided to bring her in off the bench, and I thought that just might give her a little more confidence to just go out there and shoot the ball," Olenowski said. "And she did a great job tonight. She really stepped up big for us."
Caitlin Bopp had a double-double for Rider, notching 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ali Heller also tallied 14 points, while MyNeshia McKenzie grabbed eight rebounds and handed out a team-high three assists. Rider shot 33.3 percent (16-of-48) from the field and outrebounded Manhattan 37-28. The Broncs shot 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from downtown and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) at the line.
Manhattan hits the road for its next three contests, starting with a 4:30 p.m. showdown at Canisius (6-13, 2-6 MAAC) on Friday. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
NOTES: The Lady Jaspers swept the Broncs for the first time since the 2007-08 season and improved to 24-8 all-time against Rider...Manhattan held its opponent under 50 points in a win for the ninth consecutive time...Manhattan's only unassisted basket came off a Wentworth steal and drive for an uncontested layup...Wentworth didn't have a turnover for the second straight game and bettered her previous career of six assists, which she set twice earlier this season...The last time a Manhattan player posted double-digit assists, Amanda LoCascio had 10 at Fairfield on Feb. 2, 2007...The Lady Jaspers had an assist/turnover ratio of better than 1.0 for the second straight game...Manhattan used its seventh different starting lineup of the season, with Roeder moving back into the starting five for the first time in five games...It was "Hoops for Cancer Night" at Draddy Gymnasium, and the team collected donations for the American Cancer Society...The Lady Jaspers also wore special cancer awareness shooting shirts during pregame warmups.
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