Box Score
Click here to view the 2011-12 Manhattan Women's Basketball Yearbook
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - All season long, the Manhattan College women's basketball team's offense has been waiting to break out. On Tuesday night, it did. The Jaspers (4-6) tied a school-record with 13 three-pointers and shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from beyond the arc en route to a 73-49 victory over Cornell (3-6) at Draddy Gymnasium.
"That's just what the doctor ordered," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "All of us were disappointed with the start of our season, but we didn't give up. We just came out refocused and reenergized. I'm really happy with the way we're playing."
"Everyone had a great game tonight," Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) said. "Our threes were just on tonight. Everyone did so well. It was very much a team effort. We played well together."
Six different Manhattan players drained at least one three-pointer in the contest (Loutsenhizer sank four), and the 13 treys tied a school-record that was set in a 91-84 loss to Marist on Feb. 19, 2009.
"I'm always OK with the three-point shot because we've got such good shooters," Olenowski said. "I've got total confidence in our team taking that shot. I never discourage that shot."
Cornell took an early 3-2 lead on a trey by Allyson DiMagno less than a minute in, but the Jaspers immediately went back in front on a jumper by Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.). After a Maka Anyanwu free throw tied it at 4-4, the three-point barrage began. Manhattan's next six baskets were all three-pointers, helping the Jaspers build a 22-9 cushion with 9:05 remaining in the first half. The lead reached 24 points when a trey by Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) made it 36-12 at the 2:56 mark, and Loutsenhizer hit Manhattan's ninth three of the half with 23 seconds left to put Manhattan in front by a 39-16 margin at intermission.
Nine of the Jaspers' 15 first-half baskets were three-pointers, and Manhattan shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from long range in the period.
The Big Red scored the first five points of the second half before Manhattan rallied to bring the margin back to 21 points, 45-24, with 16:09 to go. However, Cornell responded with an 8-0 run, pulling within 13 at 45-32 on a DiMagno trey, forcing a Manhattan timeout.
Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) converted a layup on the ensuing Manhattan possession, then the Jaspers turned back-to-back Cornell turnovers into Roeder three-pointers, extending their lead back to 21 points at 53-32. A Loutsenhizer layup finished off the five-minute, 15-5 rally that gave the Jaspers a 25-point, 60-35, advantage with 9:10 to play. After Cornell got back within 60-40, a pair of Halfkenny buckets and a Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) three-pointer opened up Manhattan's largest lead of the night, 67-40. The final margin was 24 points, as the Jaspers picked up their second straight win, 73-49.
Loutsenhizer, Halfkenny and Roeder combined for 48 points in the contest. Loutsenhizer led the way with 18 points, while Halfkenny and Roeder each had 15. Loutsenhizer and Halfkenny both grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and Loutsenhizer tied a career-high with six assists, as 20 of Manhattan's 29 baskets were assisted. Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) added nine points on three treys. She also contributed three assists and three steals. Peters collected four steals, as the Jaspers forced 25 Cornell turnovers. Overall, Manhattan shot 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field. The Jaspers had just two free throw attempts in the game, and Loutsenhizer converted them both.
DiMagno tallied 14 points to pace the Big Red. She also had five rebounds and three assists. Clare Fitzpatrick added 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while Anyanwu notched nine points and a game-high 12 boards. Spencer Lane handed out four assists for Cornell. As a team, the Big Red shot 37 percent (17-of-46) from the floor, 25 percent (3-of-12) from downtown, and 63.2 percent (12-of-19) at the charity stripe. Cornell outrebounded Manhattan 36-30.
The Jaspers now have eight days off before continuing their five-game homestand. St. Francis (NY) (1-10) visits Draddy Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Prior to this year, Manhattan had met the Terriers in three straight season openers, picking up the victory each time.
NOTES: Manhattan and Cornell have met in the final game before the holiday break in each of the last three seasons...This marked the first time the home team won in the series, which Manhattan now leads 2-1...The Jaspers held their opponent under 50 points for the second time this season...The last time the Jaspers didn't miss a free throw was on March 20, 2011, when Manhattan went 9-for-9 at the line against Wright State in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI)...Loutsenhizer previously had six assists against Iona on Feb. 14, 2011...With four treys, she moved into a tie for fifth place in program history with 110 career three-pointers...Loutsenhizer also moved past Meredith Morse into 13th place on Manhattan's all-time scoring list (1,131 points)...Halfkenny notched a career-high in scoring for the second straight game...Peters played in her 100th career game on Tuesday night...Everybody on the active roster played at least three minutes, and 11 different Jaspers scored.
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