Manhattan Moves to 2-0 For First Time Since 2003-04

RIVERDALE, NY – Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) had a career-high 20 points, all in the second half, to lead the Manhattan College women's basketball team (2-0) to a 63-57 victory over Yale (1-1) at Draddy Gymnasium on Tuesday night.  The Jaspers have now started the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign.

Yale led 27-26 at halftime and extended that advantage to four points when Lena Munzer hit a trey on the first possession of the second half.  However, Tatum would score seven straight points over a span of 1:31 to give the Jaspers a 33-32 lead.  Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) then sank a three-pointer to put Manhattan up four, 36-32, with 5:21 left in the third quarter.  After a Yale bucket cut the margin to two, the Jaspers went on an 8-0 run (with seven of those points coming from Tatum) to extend their cushion to 10 points, 44-34, at the 1:53 mark.

Manhattan took a 47-40 lead into the final period, but Yale began the fourth quarter on a 9-0 spurt to go back ahead, 49-47.  After a Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, PA) jumper tied it at 49-49, the Bulldogs regained the lead on a pair of Jen Berkowitz free throws at the 3:18 mark.  However, on the Jaspers' next possession, Tatum drained a three-pointer to put her team in front for good.

“I think we're ready for situations like that,” Tatum said.  “We go over it in practice and have our practice players always pushing us, so I think that was key for us—being able to focus and get stops.”

It was still 52-51 when Tatum was fouled with 1:42 left.  After checking the replay monitor, the officials determined that she was in the act of shooting a trey and awarded her three foul shouts.  Tatum drained them all to increase the lead to four, 55-51.  Yale never got any closer, as the Jaspers went 6-for-8 at the line over the final 33 seconds to secure a 63-57 win.

Tatum also notched game-highs of five assists and four steals.  Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY) reached double-figures for the second consecutive game with 13 points, while Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) had seven points and three blocks to go along with 12 rebounds.  Williams added seven points off the bench.  The Jaspers shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from long range, and 75 percent (15-of-20) at the charity stripe.

The Jaspers held a 12-6 lead late in the first quarter before Yale scored the final four points of the period to cut its deficit to two, 12-10.  The Bulldogs went up 23-19 midway through the second quarter, but a Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY) layup and a three ball by Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) gave the lead back to Manhattan, 24-23, with 2:14 remaining before halftime.  However, Yale scored four of the final six points in the period to take a 27-26 advantage into the locker room.

Munzer finished with a game-high 25 points to pace the Bulldogs.  Tamara Simpson tallied 10 points, while Meghan McIntyre registered eight points.  Berkowitz secured eight rebounds, and Roxy Barahman distributed three assists for Yale.  As a team, the Bulldogs shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, including 30 percent (6-of-20) from downtown, and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) at the free throw line.

After opening the season with two straight home games, the Jaspers hit the road for six of their next eight.  Manhattan visits defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion Buffalo (1-0) at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a contest that will be broadcast live on ESPN3.