Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College women's basketball team rallied from 17 points down early in the second half to within two in the final seconds on Friday night against Monmouth. However, the Hawks (7-9, 3-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), who went 24-for-30 (80 percent) at the free throw line in the game, made three clutch foul shots down the stretch to hang on for a 73-69 victory over the Jaspers (2-14, 1-6 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium.
Monmouth led 47-33 at halftime and extended its advantage to a game-high 17 points when Helena Kurt drained a three to start the second half. The Jaspers gradually chipped away, though, cutting the margin to six at 64-58 on a Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) three-pointer with 6:13 remaining. Sarah Olson hit a trey on the other end to bring Monmouth's cushion back to nine before consecutive layups by Kayla Grimme (Altoona, Pa.) and Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) made it a five-point game, 67-62, with 4:26 left.
After a layup by Jasmine Walker again gave the Hawks a seven-point lead, 69-62, Irizarry sank another trey to pull the Jaspers within four, 69-65. It would remain that way for two minutes before an Ericksen layup off a feed from Grimme made it 69-67 Monmouth with 1:36 to play. A Christina Mitchell free throw at the 1:06 mark extended the Hawks' lead to three, 70-67, then, after two Manhattan misses, a free throw by Sophie Beaudry made it a two-possession game with 22 seconds remaining.
With the Jaspers needing a three, Maeve Parahus' (Congers, N.Y.) attempt was off the mark and Grimme grabbed the rebound. Parahus then fired another trey that fell short and went out of bounds to Manhattan with 10 seconds to go. After a Monmouth timeout, Irizarry drove for a layup to cut the margin to two, 71-69, with four seconds left. Taylor Williams (Windsor, Conn.) immediately fouled Olson, and she sank them both to seal the Hawks' 73-69 triumph.
“We played really good, solid defense for most of the second half,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “We did a much better job on the defensive end, and that's what kept us in the game. When you play good defense and get some stops, sooner or later, some of your shots are going to start dropping. Eventually they did for us, but it was too little, too late.”
Manhattan scored the first four points of the game and opened up an early 8-4 advantage before Monmouth responded with seven straight points to go up 11-8. The Jaspers countered with an 8-0 run to go up 16-11, but the Hawks again rallied to knot the score at 19-19 midway through the first half. However, after a two-minute scoreless stretch with the score tied at 21-21, Monmouth would outscore Manhattan 26-12 over the final 7:51 of the period to take a 47-33 lead into the locker room.
It was a balanced scoring effort for the Jaspers, as eight different players had seven or more points. Ericksen led the way with 12 points and 11 rebounds for her third straight double-double and sixth of the season, while Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, Pa.) finished with 10 points and three assists. Grimme tallied eight points and 10 rebounds, and Kylla Champagne (Paterson, N.J.) contributed eight points and eight boards, as Manhattan outrebounded Monmouth 45-34. Irizarry and Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) added eight points apiece, and Underhill also distributed a team-high four assists. Parahus, meanwhile, notched seven points. The Jaspers shot 40.3 percent (29-of-72) from the field, 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from long range, and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) at the charity stripe.
Olson went a perfect 6-for-6 at the line and finished with a game-high 16 points for the Hawks. She also grabbed five rebounds. Walker contributed 10 points and three assists, while Kurt tallied nine points and three assists. Dana Carbone and Mia Hopkins tallied eight points apiece, and Hopkins pulled down a team-high six rebounds for Monmouth. Mitchell grabbed five boards and registered five blocks. As a team, the Hawks shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the floor and 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point land.
Friday's contest marked the end of Manhattan's school-record eight-game homestand. The Jaspers hit the road for the first time in more than a month on Sunday afternoon, when they visit first-place Quinnipiac (15-3, 7-0 MAAC) at 1 p.m.
NOTES: The Jaspers set season-highs for points, field goals, field goal attempts and rebounds…Manhattan had two players reach double-figures in rebounding for the second time in three games…Ericksen fouled out of the contest, becoming just the second Jasper to foul out of a game this season…Manhattan's previous record-long homestand was six straight from Jan. 16-Feb. 1, 2004…The Jaspers used their 12th different starting combination of the season, with Underhill reentering the starting lineup after coming off the bench against Marist…Monmouth won at Draddy Gymnasium for the first time since the 1985-86 season and has now won two straight against the Jaspers…Manhattan leads the all-time series 9-8…The CYO team from St. Gabriel's School participated in a halftime game and postgame autograph session with the Jaspers.
