Box Score
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Manhattan College women's basketball team opened its 2011-12 season by making the program's first-ever appearance in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Jaspers (0-1) were unable to overcome some early shooting woes in a 64-45 loss to defending America East champion Hartford (1-0) in the first round at Chase Family Arena.
Things started off well for Manhattan, as the Jaspers forced a turnover on five of Hartford's first six possessions. However, after Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) scored her first collegiate points to give Manhattan an 8-7 lead at the 12:07 mark, the Jaspers were held to just four points over the remainder of the half. The lead changed hands for the seventh time when Taylor Clark hit a layup to put the Hawks up 9-8 midway through the period. That bucket started a 17-4 Hartford run that gave the Hawks a 24-12 advantage at the break.
Hartford extended its lead to 16 points early in the second half before Manhattan rallied back within eight, 35-27, with 13:47 remaining. After a Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) layup, Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) got a steal on the ensuing Hartford possession, and she found a wide open Roeder for three, prompting a Hartford timeout. The Hawks pushed their advantage back to 18 at 51-33, but the Jaspers again clawed back, trimming their margin to 11 points when a trey by Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) made it 53-42 with 5:52 left. However, that's as close as Manhattan would get the rest of the way, as Hartford ended the game on an 11-3 run to seal a 64-45 victory.
Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.), Loutsenhizer and Roeder each had nine points to lead the Jaspers. Loutsenhizer, Roeder and Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) grabbed a team-high five rebounds apiece, while Halfkenny also collected five steals. Manhattan shot 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from downtown, and 50 percent (5-of-10) at the charity stripe.
Ruthanne Doherty tallied a game-high 19 points, while Amber Bepko, Daphne Elliott and Clark all added nine points for the Hawks. Bepko also handed out six assists, and Elliott had five assists to go along with six boards, three steals and two blocks. Nikkia Smith corralled nine rebounds, as Hartford held a 42-30 edge on the glass. The Hawks shot 46.2 percent (24-of-52) from the floor, including 20 percent (3-of-15) from three-point land, and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) at the free throw line.
The Jaspers now move into the consolation bracket, where their possible opponents include Akron, Detroit, Drexel, East Tennessee State, Howard, McNeese State and UAB. Manhattan will play two games on one of the other seven campuses next weekend. The Jaspers find out the other three teams in their consolation bracket, as well as the location of the games, on Saturday afternoon.
NOTES: Manhattan opened the season against an opponent other than St. Francis (NY) for the first time since 2007-08...The Jaspers are now 18-16 all-time in season openers...Manhattan started the season on the road for the fourth time in five years...It was the seventh all-time meeting between the schools, and the first since Nov. 24, 2006...Manhattan leads the all-time series 4-3...The Jaspers' starting five consisted of Halfkenny and Roeder at guard, Lawrence and Loutsenhizer at forward, and Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) at center...Freshman Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) also made her collegiate debuts on Friday night...Manhattan became the third Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) team in as many years to play in the Preseason WNIT (Marist 2009, Iona 2010)...This was the only first-round matchup in which both teams played in the 2011 postseason.
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