Hard-Fought Struggle Goes to Iona, 60-41

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – In a hard-fought, defensive battle, the Manhattan College women's basketball team played Iona even for 35 minutes on Thursday morning.  However, the Gaels (12-10, 9-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) pulled away down the stretch to post a 60-41 victory over the Jaspers (2-19, 1-11 MAAC) at the Hynes Athletic Center.

“That was one of our best efforts of the season,” Head Coach John Olenowski said.  “Unfortunately, it got away from us a little bit in the end, but the final score is not indicative of how well the team played or how close the game actually was.  I'm very proud of this team and their performance today.”

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half.  Iona scored the first four points of the game, but the Jaspers rallied to go up 6-5 on a jumper by Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) five minutes in.  After the Gaels regained the lead on a Joy Adams layup, back-to-back buckets by Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, Pa.) and Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) put Manhattan in front 10-7 at the 13:41 mark.

With the Jaspers leading 12-11, Iona went on a 7-0 run to open up an 18-12 advantage with 3:12 left before halftime.  After a pair of Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) baskets brought Manhattan within two, Stec hit a jumper with 27 seconds remaining in the period to make it an 18-18 game at the break.

Stec put the Jaspers ahead with a jumper early in the second half before Iona responded with a three-pointer by Aaliyah Robinson.  Manhattan regained a one-point lead on a Kylla Champagne (Paterson, N.J.) layup, but Karynda DuPree hit a layup on the other end to start an 11-4 Iona run that gave the Gaels a 32-26 advantage with 13:26 to play.

Iona's lead reached 11 points at 45-34 before Irizarry hit a trey and Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, Pa.) followed with a layup to trim Manhattan's deficit to six, 45-39, with 4:36 remaining.  However, Aurelia Cammock was fouled on a layup and made the free throw to bring the Gaels' cushion back to nine, then Robinson drained a three-pointer to make it a 12-point Iona lead, 51-39, with 3:05 left.  The Gaels outscored the Jaspers 9-2 the rest of the way to finish off a 60-41 victory and complete a season sweep of Manhattan.

Ericksen, Stec and Irizarry combined for 29 of Manhattan's 41 points.  Ericksen had a team-high 12 points, while Stec tallied 10 points and seven rebounds, and Irizarry finished with seven points.  Champagne pulled down six boards, and Thompson handed out seven assists.  The Jaspers shot 27 percent (17-of-63) from the field, but went just 1-for-15 (6.7 percent) from three-point land.  Manhattan made all six of its free throw attempts.

Robinson registered 18 points and seven rebounds for the Gaels, while Adams had a double-double with 16 points and 19 boards.  Damika Martinez, who leads the MAAC and ranks second nationally in scoring, was held to 11 points.  DuPree grabbed seven rebounds to go along with two blocks and three steals, as the Gaels outrebounded the Jaspers 46-39.  Marina Lizarazu, meanwhile, dished out eight assists for Iona, which shot 33.9 percent (19-of-56) as a team.  The Gaels shot 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from long range and 81 percent (17-of-21) at the charity stripe.

Manhattan, which has already completed the season series with four different MAAC opponents, faces Saint Peter's (2-18, 2-9 MAAC) for the first time this year on Saturday afternoon.  The Peacocks will come to Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. matchup.