Box Score
Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. – Playing in front of a national audience on ESPN3, the Manhattan College women's basketball team turned in one of its best performances of the season on Thursday night. The Jaspers (5-15, 4-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) outrebounded their opponent for the first time this season, grabbing 36 boards to Siena's 34 in a 62-55 victory over the Saints (6-14, 1-10 MAAC) at the Times Union Center. With the win, Manhattan snapped a three-game losing streak and avenged a loss to Siena earlier this season.
Siena took an early 6-2 lead before the Jaspers scored five straight points to take the lead. After a Brianna Logan layup put the Saints back in front, 8-7, Manhattan went ahead for good on when Maeve Parahus (Congers, N.Y.) found Kylla Champagne (Paterson, N.J.) for a lay-in at the 11:31 mark. Parahus drained a trey to make it a four-point game, and the lead ballooned to 10 points, 26-16, on Allison Skrec's (Roselle, N.J.) layup with 1:54 remaining in the first half. Siena, however, ended the half on a 5-0 run to cut its margin to five, 26-21, at the break.
The Saints scored the first basket of the second half to pull within three, but Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) countered with a trey at the other end to make it a six-point margin once again. Manhattan was still up six at 36-30 with 13:33 left when Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) hit a layup and Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) followed with two free throws to push the Jaspers' cushion back to 10 points, 40-30.
After a three-pointer by Kanika Cummings pulled Siena within six, 46-40, Champagne converted back-to-back buckets to make it 50-40 with 7:21 to go. It would remain that way for a while, as the teams combined for just one point, a Cummings free throw, over the next 4:34. Siena's Tehresa Coles ended the scoring drought with a layup, and the Saints then used a timeout before sending the Jaspers to the line.
Skrec and Stec each converted a pair to increase the margin to 11 points, 54-43, and the lead reached a game-high 12 points at 59-47 with 1:05 to play. Siena got a Cummings jumper and a trey by Ida Krogh to cut it to seven, 59-52, with 30 seconds remaining before Skrec calmly hit two free throws to increase the Jaspers' cushion to nine. After Cummings hit a three-pointer on Siena's end, a Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) foul shot capped the scoring in Manhattan's 62-55 triumph. Manhattan made just one field goal over the last 7:21, but made 10 free throws during that span to ice the victory.
Skrec tallied a game-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Champagne doubled her career-high with 10 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds, and Ericksen registered 10 points and seven boards. Stec finished with nine points and Isaacs added eight points. Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.), meanwhile, secured six rebounds and collected three steals. As a team, the Jaspers shot 48.8 percent (21-of-43) from the floor, 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from long range, and 59.3 percent (16-of-27) at the line.
Cummings was the only Saint in double figures with 13 points. She also tallied three assists and four steals. Meghan Donohue contributed nine points, while Kelsey Booth finished one rebound shy of a double-double with eight points and nine boards. Brianna Logan notched eight points and three assists, and Coles posted seven points and three assists. Siena shot 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the field, but was just 4-for-22 (18.2 percent) from downtown. The Saints shot 72.2 percent (13-of-18) at the charity stripe.
The game concluded a span where the Jaspers played five out of six on the road. Manhattan begins a three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon, when Rider (9-11, 5-6 MAAC) comes to Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. contest. The Jaspers will be celebrating “Alumni Day,” as more than 20 former players will be in attendance.
NOTES: Manhattan's road game against Siena was at the Times Union Center for the second straight season and the third time in four years…The Jaspers snapped a five-game losing streak against Siena and improved to 20-37 all-time against the Saints…Manhattan outrebounded its opponent for the first time since holding a 39-28 edge over Loyola in the first round of the MAAC Tournament on March 7, 2013…Champagne's previous career-high for rebounds was three, which she had done four times, most recently at Marist on Jan. 3…Manhattan made its first appearance on ESPN3 since a 60-39 home loss to Marist on Jan. 25, 2013...Skrec went a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line, including 6-for-6 over the final 2:39…With five assists, she moved past Christine Bach into ninth place on the Jaspers' all-time list.
