Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – On Thursday night, the Manhattan College women's basketball team had a dominant defensive performance. The Jaspers (6-16, 5-8 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) forced 21 turnovers and held Saint Peter's (3-19, 2-11 MAAC) to just 23.9 percent (11-of-46) shooting in a 58-31 victory over the Peacocks at Draddy Gymnasium. The Peacock's 31 points were the lowest total for an opponent in Riverdale in nearly 20 years, while Manhattan recorded its largest margin of victory since a 33-point win over East Tennessee State on Nov. 19, 2011.
“Before the game, I told the team that if we play great defense, we can jump on them pretty early, which we did,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “But we played great defense all night. I was very proud of our performance tonight.”
The Jaspers led wire-to-wire, scoring the first seven points of the game and never looking back. Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) drained a trey on the opening possession before Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) and Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) added layups to force Saint Peter's into a timeout less than two minutes into the game.
Manhattan made 11 of its first 15 shots, and led 25-4 after a three-pointer by Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) at the 8:27 mark. Saint Peter's scored the next eight points to cut its deficit to 25-12, but the Jaspers ended the half on an 8-0 spurt of their own. Skrec hit a pair of layups and Stec added another before Maeve Parahus (Congers, N.Y.) converted a lay-in to bring the margin back to 21 points, 33-12, at halftime.
After a Parahus trey made it 43-22 with 15:22 remaining, Saint Peter's rallied for six straight points to once again cut the margin to 15, 43-28, with 10:55 left. However, that would prove to be the Peacocks' last field goal of the game. Saint Peter's got a pair of free throws at the 8:26 mark, and didn't score again after a free throw by Kaydine Bent with 6:25 to go.
That Bent free throw made the score 50-31, and it would stay that way until Roeder's conventional three-point play with 3:11 remaining. Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) added a pair of free throws before Alex Cohen (Nashua, N.H.) capped the scoring in the 58-31 victory with the first basket of her career, a three-pointer with 1:07 left.
“We knew we needed to win tonight,” Olenowski said. “We've got to come and play every game, and we did that tonight. The first half set the tone for the whole game.”
It was a balanced offensive effort for Manhattan, as eight different Jaspers scored and four had at least nine points. Roeder led the way with 12 points to go along with four rebounds and three steals, while Stec notched 11 points, seven boards and four steals. Skrec tallied 10 points and eight assists. Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.), meanwhile, posted nine points. Underhill handed out a career-high six assists, as the Jaspers had 19 assists compared to just 16 turnovers. Manhattan shot 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the floor, 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from downtown, and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) at the line.
Bent had a double-double to pace Saint Peter's. She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Aziza Mostafa added seven points and two assists, while May collected four steals. Saint Peter's went 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) from three-point range and 6-for-8 (75 percent) at the charity stripe. The Peacocks also outrebounded the Jaspers 30-29.
The Jaspers conclude their three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon, when Iona (19-3, 12-1 MAAC) visits Draddy Gymnasium. The Gaels suffered their first MAAC loss of the season on Thursday night, dropping a 92-90 overtime decision at Rider. Iona defeated Manhattan 70-52 at the HynesAthleticCenter on Jan. 20.
NOTES: It was Manhattan's annual “Play 4 Kay” game for breast cancer awareness…The Jaspers and Peacocks met for the 75th time, with Saint Peter's leading the all-time series 51-24…Manhattan is 8-1 against Saint Peter's under Olenowski…The Jaspers held their opponent under 40 points for the ninth time in Olenowski's tenure, and the first time since a 34-33 loss to Siena in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Tournament on March 2, 2012…Saint Peter's had the lowest score by a visitor at Draddy Gymnasium since Manhattan defeated C.W. Post 84-30 on Dec. 16, 1994…Underhill's previous career-high was four assists against Siena on Jan. 5…Manhattan had a positive assist-turnover ratio for the 10th time this season...The girls' basketball team at St. Gabriel's School played an intrasquad game at halftime.
