Box Score
Box Score
JERSEY CITY, NJ – On Friday night, the Manhattan College women's basketball team (14-14, 11-8 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) concluded its road schedule with a 60-43 triumph over Saint Peter's (4-24, 2-17 MAAC) at the Yanitelli Center. With the victory, the Jaspers clinched a winning record in MAAC play for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
The Jaspers led virtually wire-to-wire. After Manhattan scored the first four points of the contest, Saint Peter's evened the game at 4-4 with 6:01 left in the first quarter. However, an Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) free throw at the 5:56 mark sparked a 9-0 Manhattan run that put the Jaspers up 13-4, and it was 17-8 at the end of the period.
A Sajanna Bethea jumper on the opening play of the second quarter brought the Peacocks within 17-10 before Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) hit a layup on the other end to spark a 9-0 rally that increased Manhattan's lead to 16 points, 26-10, with 7:35 left until halftime. Another Grimme layup made it 30-14 with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter, but Saint Peter's ended the half on a 6-0 run to pull within 30-20 at the break.
Saint Peter's cut its deficit to seven at 35-28 midway through the third quarter, but the Jaspers again rallied for nine straight points, regaining a 16-point cushion, 44-28, on a Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) trey with 1:18 left in the period. After the teams traded buckets, Janelle Mullen nailed a three-pointer for the Peacocks as time expired in the quarter, pulling Saint Peter's within 13, 46-33, entering the fourth.
Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY), who had been held scoreless in the contest until that point, scored eight points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, as the Jaspers extended their lead from 46-33 to 54-33. The margin reached a game-high 22 points at 56-34 on a Tatum layup at the 6:30 mark. After a Blake Underhill (Edgewater, NJ) jumper put Manhattan up 58-36 midway through the final period, Saint Peter's ended the game on a 7-2 spurt to make the final margin 17 points, 60-43.
Tatum tallied a game-high 15 points, while Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) had 10 points off the bench. Underhill finished with eight points, four assists and four steals, and Williams also contributed eight points. Kylla Champagne (Paterson, NJ) added seven points and two blocks. Grimme, meanwhile, grabbed eight boards for the Jaspers, who outrebounded the Peacocks 32-30. Manhattan shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the floor, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from three-point land, and 75 percent (6-of-8) at the charity stripe.
Bethea notched 12 points and five rebounds for the Peacocks. Hala Mostafa added 10 points and six boards, while Talah Hughes finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists. Saint Peter's shot 37 percent (17-of-46) from the field, 20 percent (2-of-10) from downtown, and 77.8 percent (7-of-9) at the free throw line.
Manhattan concludes the regular season by hosting Rider (7-21, 4-15 MAAC) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Jaspers, who will honor their six graduating seniors in a pregame ceremony that begins at 1:45, will clinch the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament with a win over the Broncs.
NOTES: The Jaspers won at the Yanitelli Center for the seventh consecutive season…Manhattan is 12-2 against Saint Peter's in Head Coach John Olenowski's tenure…Saint Peter's leads the all-time series 52-28…Olenowski and Assistant Coach Samera Marsh were both on the Saint Peter's coaching staff in 2007-08…Underhill played her 100th game in a Manhattan uniform on Friday night…The Jaspers had more assists than turnovers for the ninth time this season…Manhattan improved to 5-0 this season when holding its opponent under 50 points…The Jaspers earned seven road wins this season, their most since the 2010-11 campaign.
