Box Score
Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Manhattan College women's basketball team saw its 2013-14 season come to an end with an 87-66 loss to Siena in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament at the MassMutual Center on Thursday afternoon. The Jaspers finish the season with a 9-21 record, while the Saints (9-21) moved on to face eight-time defending champion Marist (24-6) on Friday.
The Jaspers took an early 5-4 lead on an Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) three-pointer and a pair of Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) free throws before Siena responded with an 8-0 run to open up a 12-5 advantage with 13:57 left in the first half. Following a Manhattan timeout, Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) hit a layup on the next Jaspers possession to cut the margin to five, 12-7, but the Saints' offense was on fire. Siena shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) in the first half and drained seven three-pointers in the period, including one by Kelsey Booth at the 1:35 mark that made it a 22-point game, 47-22. Manhattan closed the period on a 5-0 run to trim its deficit to 17 points, 47-30, at intermission.
Siena scored the first two points of the second half on a pair of Ida Krogh free throws before the Jaspers got two Stec free throws and a Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) three-pointer to get back within 14 at 49-35 with 18:25 to go. However, the Saints quickly countered with an 8-0 run to push the margin back to 22 points, 57-35.
After Manhattan got back within 17 at 64-47, Siena scored eight straight points to open up its largest lead of the contest, a 25-point, 72-47 advantage with 9:47 remaining. The Jaspers scored 10 of the next 13 points, pulling within 18 on an Isaacs trey that made it 75-57 at the 6:44 mark, but would get no closer, as the Saints maintained a comfortable cushion the rest of the way. Siena advanced to face second-seeded Marist with an 87-66 win over the Jaspers.
"I'm very disappointed with our effort today, especially defensively," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "Today we gave up a lot of open threes, and we kind of buried ourselves in the first half by allowing them to do that. We tried valiantly in the second half to change defenses and get back in the game, but they kept making shots. They deserve the outcome."
Isaacs drained six three-pointers and had a career-high 20 points to lead the Jaspers. Ericksen, meanwhile, recorded her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Stec added 13 points and three assists, while Skrec tallied nine points and five assists in her final game in a Jaspers uniform. Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) collected nine points to finish her Manhattan career with 1,381, which ranks her seventh all-time. She also grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists. The Jaspers shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field, 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from long range, and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) at the free throw line.
Krogh and Tehresa Coles tallied 16 points apiece to pace Siena. Krogh added six rebounds and four assists, while Coles also posted five boards and three assists. Booth sank five treys, finishing with 15 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Kanika Cummings added 14 points off the bench, and Brianna Logan handed out a team-best five assists. Siena shot 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the field and outrebounded Manhattan 40-29. The Saints went 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) from three-point land and 19-for-23 (82.6 percent) at the charity stripe.
Manhattan went 8-12 in conference play during the regular season to earn the No. 7 seed, while Siena was seeded 10th after posting a MAAC record of 3-17.
NOTES: The Jaspers and Saints met in the MAAC Tournament for the second time in three years and the seventh time overall…Siena won both of those games and is now 4-3 all-time against Manhattan in the postseason…The Saints captured two of the three meetings this season and leads the overall series 38-20…The Jaspers were seeded seventh in the MAAC Tournament for the first time since 2000 and the fourth time in school history…Manhattan lost in the first round of the MAAC Tournament for just the second time ever and is now 26-29 all-time in the event…Isaacs had 19 points in the season-opening win at Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 10…Stec ended the season with a streak of 24 consecutive made free throws…Skrec ends her Manhattan career fourth on the Jaspers' all-time assists chart (373), and her 187 assists this season were the second-most for a single-season in program history…Roeder extended her Manhattan record to 248 career three-pointers, and she broke another one of Tiffany Schettig's all-time records by making her 113th career start…She played in 128 career contests, one shy of the program record, and never fouled out in her collegiate career.
