Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – On Saturday afternoon, the Manhattan College women's basketball team welcomed Saint Peter's to Draddy Gymnasium. Despite holding a one-point lead at halftime, the Jaspers (2-20, 1-12 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) were unable to hold on, as the Peacocks (3-19, 3-10 MAAC) rallied for a 68-58 victory.
The Jaspers scored the first five points of the game before the Peacocks rallied to go in front 8-7 on an Antonia Smith trey eight minutes in. Manhattan regained the lead on a Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) layup at the 10:26 mark, and that bucket started a 12-5 rally that made it 19-13 in favor of the Jaspers with 6:37 to go before halftime.
After a three-pointer by Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) ran the margin to seven points at 22-15, Saint Peter's ended the half on a 9-3 rally to pull within one, 25-24, at intermission.
With the score knotted at 28-28 early in the second half, Saint Peter's went on a 7-2 run to take a five-point lead, 35-30. Layups by Kylla Champagne (Paterson, N.J.) and Irizarry trimmed the Jaspers' deficit to one before Alyssa Velles drained a trey to once again put the Peacocks up four, 38-34, with 12:06 remaining. Manhattan evened the score at 40-40 on a layup by Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) at the 9:47 mark, then went back in front, 42-40, when Kayla Grimme (Altoona, Pa.) grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in.
However, Saint Peter's countered with eight of the next 10 points to go up 48-44. Manhattan tied the game again at 49-49 with 5:50 to go, but Smith hit a jumper on the other end to put the Peacocks ahead for good. The margin reached as many as 12 points before a layup by Taylor Williams (Windsor, Conn.) at the buzzer made the final difference 10 points, 68-58.
Grimme led the Jaspers with 11 points off the bench. She also grabbed four rebounds. Stec added 10 points and four boards, while Irizarry contributed 10 points of her own. Blake Underhill (Edgewater, N.J.) handed out four assists, and Williams matched a career-high with three steals. The Jaspers shot 41.2 percent (21-of-51) overall, but just 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from downtown. After going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line against Iona on Thursday, Manhattan went 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) on Saturday.
Smith registered 24 points, six rebounds and eight assists for Saint Peter's. Meanwhile, Sajanna Bethea and Velles tallied 14 points apiece. The Peacocks shot 50 percent (23-of-46) from the floor and outrebounded the Jaspers 39-23. Saint Peter's shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from long range and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) at the charity stripe.
Manhattan begins a two-game road trip with a 7 p.m. visit to Fairfield (10-13, 9-5 MAAC) on Wednesday. It will be the first meeting of the season between the Jaspers and Stags.
NOTES: The Jaspers and Peacocks met for the first time this season and the 77th time overall…Saint Peter's won at Draddy Gymnasium for the second time in three years and leads the all-time series 52-25…It was the Jaspers' only home contest in a four-game stretch to start February…Manhattan led at halftime for the fourth time this season…The Jaspers had a positive assist/turnover ratio for the second straight game…Williams previously registered three steals at Ohio on Nov. 30…Grimme reached double figures in the scoring column for the fourth time this season and the first time since tallying 10 points against Buffalo on Dec. 19…Manhattan Head Coach John Olenowski was an assistant at Saint Peter's during the 2007-08 season.
