Comeback Effort Falls Just Short In 52-48 Loss at American

WASHINGTON – Trailing by eight points after three quarters, the Manhattan College women's basketball team pulled within two with 10 seconds remaining on Sunday evening.  However, Maria Liddane hit a pair of free throws on the other end to give American (2-8) a 52-48 victory over the Jaspers (5-6) at Bender Arena.

Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) sparked the Jaspers' comeback, scoring Manhattan's first nine points of the fourth quarter to cut a 38-30 deficit to four, 43-39, with 5:18 remaining.  After a Liddane free throw, Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) drained a trey to pull Manhattan within two, 44-42, at the 3:56 mark.

American pushed its lead back to six at 50-44 with 24 seconds to go when Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) drove for a layup to make it a four-point game.  The Eagles then turned over the inbounds pass, and the Jaspers capitalized, getting a close-range jumper from Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) to trim American's advantage to 50-48 with 10 seconds left.  With Manhattan forced to foul in order to stop the clock, Liddane went to the line and sank a pair to put the Eagles up 52-48, and the Jaspers were unable to get a shot off in the final eight seconds.

Tatum finished with 18 points, matching her career-high, and she also registered four assists and five steals.  Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) added eight points and eight rebounds, while Irizarry contributed seven points and two blocks.  The Jaspers shot 28.1 percent (18-of-64) from the field, 20 percent (3-of-15) from long range, and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) at the free throw line.

Lauren Crisler had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead American.  Michelle Holmes tallied nine points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, while Emily Kinneston and Liddane notched eight points apiece.  Kaitlyn Lewis handed out four assists to go along with seven points.  The Eagles shot 28.6 percent (12-of-42) from the floor, but was held to 8.3 percent (1-of-12) shooting from three-point distance.  American went 27-for-34 (79.4 percent) at the charity stripe, including 12-for-16 in the final period.  The Eagles outrebounded the Jaspers 46-34.

After American jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter, Manhattan scored the next eight points to tie the game.  The Eagles held an 11-9 edge after the opening 10 minutes before a Tatum jumper early in the second quarter evened the score at 11-11.  American responded with a 7-2 spurt to go up 18-13 midway through the frame, but the Jaspers got back within one at 21-20 after Grimme hit a pair of foul shots at the 2:41 mark.  American scored the final four points of the half, though, and took a 25-20 cushion into the locker room.

The Eagles opened the third quarter on a 5-2 spurt to push the margin to eight points, 30-22, before Ross hit a pair of free throws, then Tatum was fouled while driving for a layup.  She made the and-one to make it a three-point game, 30-27, with 4:06 left in the quarter.  However, American scored the next six points to open up its largest lead of the contest, a 36-27 edge.  It was 38-29 in favor of the Eagles when Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA) went 1-for-2 at the line to cut Manhattan's deficit to eight entering the final quarter.

Manhattan, which wrapped up its non-conference slate on Sunday, will now have its longest break of the season.  The Jaspers (2-0 MAAC) will have 12 days off before resuming their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) schedule at Iona (5-7, 2-0 MAAC) on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m.