Jaspers Fall to Saint Peter?s, 60-49

Box Score

2012-13 Manhattan Women's Basketball Yearbook 

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Manhattan College women's basketball team rallied back within one with 7:17 to go on Sunday afternoon.  However, the Jaspers (5-14, 2-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) were unable to complete the comeback, as Saint Peter's (1-18, 1-7 MAAC) held on for a 60-49 victory at Draddy Gymnasium.

The Manhattan offense was on fire early, as the Jaspers made six of their first seven shots to take a 14-5 lead.  Saint Peter's responded with an 8-0 rally to pull within one, 14-13, before a layup by Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) brought the margin back to three points, 16-13.  The Peacocks scored the next three points to tie it, and it would be deadlocked three more times until Lovisa Hagberg's three-pointer put Saint Peter's in front 25-22 with 3:29 remaining in the first half.  That long ball started a 10-2 Peacocks rally to end the half, and Saint Peter's took a 32-24 cushion into the locker room.

Saint Peter's opened the second half on a 5-1 spurt to increase its lead to a game-high 13 points at 38-25 with 16:44 to go.  Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) hit a pair of free throws on the ensuing Manhattan possession to begin the comeback in earnest, and the Jaspers cut the margin to four, 40-36, on Toni-Ann Lawrence's (Elmont, N.Y.) jumper with 11:57 remaining.  Kristal Edwards sank a three-pointer on the other end to bring the Peacocks' lead back to seven, 43-36, but Manhattan rallied for nine of the next 12 points, pulling within one at 46-45 on a pair of Lawrence free throws at the 7:17 mark.

One of the most pivotal moments of the game came with 4:22 remaining and Saint Peter's leading 48-45.  The Peacocks' Emily Brown was fighting two Manhattan players for a loose ball with the shot clock winding down when the officials ruled that one of the Jaspers had kicked it, resetting the shot clock to 15.  Aziza May then drained a three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock expired, increasing the Saint Peter's lead to six, 51-45, with 4:08 to go.  That trey proved to be a turning point, as the Peacocks outscored the Jaspers 11-4 the rest of the way to pull away for a 60-49 triumph.

"When you come back, it takes a lot of energy, and, unfortunately, we had a lot of people in foul trouble, so we had to rotate people into different positions because of the foul situation," Head Coach John Olenowski said.  "We ran out of energy and they didn't.  That was the difference in the basketball game."

Skrec led the way offensively for Manhattan, tying a career-high with 15 points to go along with seven assists.  Lawrence and Stec each added nine points, while Shayna Ericksen (Hackettstown, N.J.) and Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) grabbed seven rebounds apiece.  As a team, Manhattan shot 36.7 percent (18-of-49) from the field, but went an uncharacteristic 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) from three-point range.  The Jaspers shot 73.3 percent (11-of-15) at the free throw line.

Edwards tallied a game-high 22 points, while also notching three rebounds and three steals for the Peacocks.  May finished with 14 points and three rebounds, and Jesika Holmes posted three assists and three steals to go along with six points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Kaydine Bent pulled down seven boards, as Saint Peter's outrebounded Manhattan 38-31.  The Peacocks shot 35.4 percent (17-of-48) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from downtown, and 64.5 percent (20-of-31) at the charity stripe.

The Jaspers are back in action on Thursday night, when they hit the road for the only time in a six-game stretch.  Manhattan visits Rider (9-10, 4-4 MAAC) at 7 p.m. looking to avenge a 48-41 home loss to the Broncs on Jan. 6.