Irizarry?s Late Free Throws Give Jaspers 58-57 Win at Brown

PROVIDENCE, RI – Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) hit a pair of free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining to give the Manhattan College women's basketball team (3-1) a 58-57 victory over Brown (2-3) at the Pizzitola Center on Tuesday afternoon.  Irizarry tied the game with a three-pointer with 12 seconds left, then, after the Bears went 1-for-2 at the foul line on the other end, drew a foul just before time expired, setting up the winning free throws.

“I think it was just focus,” Irizarry said about the final sequence.  “We do stuff like that in practice all the time, so I was able to just focus on hitting the shots, then went out there and executed.”

Manhattan led 45-35 after three quarters, but Brown opened the final period on an 11-2 run to go in front.  After a Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, PA) layup gave the lead back to the Jaspers, 49-48, Brown's Kathleen Ryan sank a free throw with 2:23 left to tie the score.  Manhattan regained the lead, 51-49, on a pair of foul shots by Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) with 1:49 to go, but Erika Steeves drained a three-pointer on each of Brown's next two possessions to give the Bears a 55-51 advantage. 

Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) made it a two-point game, 55-53, at the 43-second mark, then Manhattan used all of its remaining fouls to stop the clock.  After Abby O'Keefe went 1-for-2 at the line, Jaspers Head Coach Heather Vulin called her final timeout and advanced the ball into the frontcourt.  She drew up a play for Irizarry, who nailed the game-tying trey.

“We practice these game situations every day in practice, so I was pleased to see us go out and execute at the end,” Vulin said.  “I'm glad Nyasha responded and made some of the biggest shots of the night for us.”

Brown raced out to an early 8-2 lead before treys by Williams and KellyAnne O'Reilly (Montville, NJ) tied it at 8-8.  The Bears responded with an 8-0 rally (with all eight points coming on free throws), and held a 16-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.  The Jaspers opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run, though, to go up 19-16.  An Irizarry trey extended the margin to four points at 26-22 with 2:16 left before halftime, but Brown scored the final five points of the half to regain the lead, 27-26.

The Bears extended their cushion to three points early in the third quarter, but Manhattan responded with a 17-3 spurt to take a 43-32 advantage with 1:04 left in the period.  After a Brown three-pointer, Guiton sank a layup just before the buzzer sounded to end the quarter, putting the Jaspers up 45-35 entering the final stanza.

Grimme had a double-double with a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds.  She also recorded five blocks.  Guiton finished with 12 points and seven boards, while Irizarry recorded 10 points, including Manhattan's final five.  Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY), meanwhile, registered eight assists and three steals.  The Jaspers outrebounded the Bears 47-35, including a 20-10 advantage on the offensive glass.  As a team, Manhattan shot 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field, 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from long range, and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) at the charity stripe.

Shayna Mehta led Brown with 11 points, and she also tallied three assists and four steals.  Taylor Will contributed nine points, while Steeves recorded seven points, eight rebounds and three steals.  Kathleen Ryan and Megan Reilly added eight points apiece for the Bears.  Brown shot 32.1 percent (17-of-53) from the floor, including 40 percent (8-of-20) from downtown, and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) at the free throw line.

After playing two straight on the road, the Jaspers begin a two-game homestand by welcoming Stony Brook (0-3) to Draddy Gymnasium at 2 p.m. on Saturday.  It will be “Junior Jasper Day,” and all children 12 and under will be admitted free.