Manhattan Topples Rider For Third Straight Victory

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – On Monday night, the Manhattan College women's basketball team earned its third consecutive victory.  The Jaspers (9-10, 6-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) scored the first seven points of the game and led by as many as 15 en route to a wire-to-wire 74-70 victory over Rider (4-15, 1-9 MAAC) at Alumni Gymnasium.

Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) went 4-for-4 from three-point land over the first 3:16 of the game, as the jaspers jumped out to an 18-6 lead.  It was 22-13 after one quarter, and Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY) drained a trey on Manhattan's first possession of the second period to increase the lead to 25-13.  However, Rider scored 12 of the next 16 points to get within four, 29-25, with 4:06 remaining in the first half.

A Blake Underhill (Edgewater, NJ) layup brought the Jaspers' lead back to six, then a pair of Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, NJ) free throws made it an eight-point game, 33-25, at the 3:16 mark.  Rider responded with five straight points to cut its deficit to three, 33-30, but Ericksen and Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) combined to go 6-for-6 at the line over the remainder of the half to give Manhattan a 39-33 advantage at intermission.

The Jaspers opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run to extend their cushion to a game-high 15 points, 48-33.  After a layup by Ericksen made it 53-38 with 4:02 left in the period, the Broncs rallied for five straight points to trim the margin to 10.  However, Manhattan ended the quarter on a 5-2 rally and took a 58-45 lead into the fourth quarter.

Rider began to chip away early in the final period, getting within six at 60-54 on a Robin Perkins three-pointer with 7:35 left.  The Jaspers pushed the lead back to 10 points at 69-59 with 4:08 remaining, but the Broncs responded with an 8-2 rally to again make it a four-point difference, 71-67, at the 58-second mark.

Underhill was fouled with 55 seconds left, and she drained both foul shots to increase the lead to six, 73-67.  An Irizarry free throw brought it to seven, 74-67, with 36 seconds to go before Rider's Kamila Hoskova converted an old-fashioned three-point play with three seconds remaining to make the final margin four points, 74-70.

Irizarry led four Jaspers in double figures with 20 points.  Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) tallied 14 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists and four steals.  Underhill contributed 10 points, five boards, seven assists and three steals, while Ericksen notched 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.  Kylla Champagne (Paterson, NJ) pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) added six boards, as Manhattan outrebounded Rider 41-33.  The Jaspers shot 39 percent (23-of-59) from the field, 50 percent (6-of-12) from three-point range, and 62.9 percent (22-of-35) at the free throw line.

Perkins posted a game-high 21 points to pace the Broncs.  She added five rebounds.  Hoskova finished with 12 points, five boards and four steals, while Johnnah Johnson tallied 10 points off the bench.  Julia Duggan just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, and Taylor Wentzel handed out seven assists for Rider.  As a team, the Broncs shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the floor, 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from downtown, and 83.9 percent (26-of-31) at the charity stripe.

Manhattan is now off until Sunday, when defending MAAC champion Quinnipiac (11-7, 6-3 MAAC) visits Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. matchup.  The Jaspers posted a 52-42 victory over the Bobcats in Connecticut on Dec. 6.