Box Score
Box Score
LOUDONVILLE, NY – In a contest that featured seven ties and six lead changes, first-place Siena (9-7, 6-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) held on for a 60-59 win over the Manhattan College women's basketball team (6-8, 3-2 MAAC) at the Alumni Recreation Center on Sunday. After Kollys Scarbrough hit two free throws to give the Saints a four-point lead with six seconds left, Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) sank a trey, her seventh of the game, at the buzzer, but the Jaspers ended up one point short.
The final sequence capped a furious rally that saw Manhattan battle back from 10 points down with 2:27 remaining. After Siena opened up its largest lead of the game, a 58-48 cushion, a Kylla Champagne (Paterson, NJ) layup and an Irizarry trey cut the Jaspers' deficit to five, 58-53, at the 1:21 mark. A Blake Underhill (Edgewater, NJ) free throw pulled Manhattan within four, then the Jaspers forced a shot clock violation with 15 seconds left. Underhill drove for a layup on the ensuing possession, but Manhattan was out of timeouts and forced to foul, sending Scarbrough to the line for the decisive free throws.
Irizarry, who has drained 12 three-pointers in the last two games, set a career-high in scoring for the second straight contest, finishing with 25 points. Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) had 13 points and four blocks off the bench, while Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, NJ) and Underhill each grabbed double-digit rebounds. Ericksen tied a career-high with 12 boards to go along with eight points and five steals. Underhill, meanwhile, corralled eight rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. She added eight assists and three steals. Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) handed out five assists and Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA) distributed three assists for the Jaspers, who shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the field. Manhattan went 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) from three-point range and 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) at the charity stripe.
Neither offense was able to get much going early on, as it was just 8-7 Siena with 2:50 remaining in the first quarter. The Saints scored the last four points of the period, though, to open up a 12-7 advantage.
It continued that way early in the second quarter, as the first point of the period didn't come until Siena's Deja Rawls hit a free throw at the 7:56 mark. Ericksen followed with a jumper, then Irizarry sank a three to bring Manhattan within one before a Scarbrough layup pushed Siena's cushion back to three points, 15-12, with 5:49 left before halftime. The Jaspers rallied for the next six points to take an 18-15 lead, but the Saints got a trey from Jackie Benitez and a layup from Symone Kelly to go back in front, 20-18. After Ross tied it with a layup, she went 1-for-2 at the line to put the Jaspers up 21-20 at intermission.
Manhattan extended its cushion to a game-high six points, 26-20, on an Irizarry three a minute into the third quarter, but Siena responded with an 11-3 run to take a 31-29 lead. Irizarry immediately countered with a trey to put the Jaspers back in front, and Thompson then hit a pair of free throws to run the margin to three points, 34-31, with 3:38 left in the quarter. However, Siena would it at 35-35, and the score was tied two more times in the quarter before an Ericksen jumper with five seconds left in the frame gave Manhattan a 42-40 advantage entering the final period.
Layups by Ross and Ericksen to start the fourth quarter ran the Jaspers' cushion back to six points, 46-40, with 8:39 to go. The Saints would hold Manhattan scoreless for nearly five minutes, though, outscoring the Jaspers 13-0 during that span to open up a 53-46 advantage. After a Ross layup ended the drought, Siena rallied for the next five points, taking its biggest lead of the game, 58-48, on a Danisha Petty-Evans trey with 2:27 to go.
Scarbrough led Siena with 17 points. Benitez tallied 13 points and seven steals, while Meghan Donohue and Petty-Evans contributed eight points apiece. Kelly pulled down nine rebounds, as the Saints outrebounded the Jaspers 44-43. Siena shot 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the floor, 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from long range, and 65.5 percent (19-of-29) at the foul line.
After playing four straight and six of their last seven on the road, the Jaspers return to Draddy Gymnasium for the start of a season-long four-game homestand on Tuesday. Manhattan hosts Marist (4-11, 3-2 MAAC) at 11 a.m. in its annual “Kid's Day Out” game. More than 750 students at local elementary schools are expected to be in attendance.
NOTES: Siena has won four straight and nine of the last 10 meetings between the schools…The Saints lead the all-time series 41-20…Manhattan had been 5-0 this season when leading at halftime…This was the second time this season that two Jaspers recorded double-digit rebounds in the same game…Ross had 12 boards and Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) collected 11 rebounds in the win over Brown on Nov. 29…Underhill's previous career-high was nine rebounds at Quinnipiac on Dec. 6, 2015…Irizarry's seven treys were one shy of the single-game program record…She became the second Manhattan player to post 25 points in a game this season (Taylor Williams vs. Brown)…As a team, the Jaspers matched their season-highs with 18 assists and 15 steals.
