Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, NY – After winning a total of three games during the entire 2014-15 season, the Manhattan College women's basketball team has won four of its last five. Three Jaspers nearly had double-doubles, as Manhattan (10-11, 7-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) notched a 77-55 victory over Canisius (9-13, 4-9 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday night.
Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, NJ) finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA) notched nine points and four blocks to go along with a career-high 16 boards. Blake Underhill (Edgewater, NJ), meanwhile, tallied eight points, nine assists and four steals.
Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) contributed 15 points, and Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) posted 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) added eight points to go along with three assists. The Jaspers outrebounded the Griffs 50-39 and shot 41.5 percent (27-of-65) from the field as a team. Manhattan went 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from three-point range and 16-for-32 (50 percent) at the foul line.
“I thought we did a good job on both ends tonight,” Head Coach John Olenowski said. “It was a very balanced effort.”
It was a tight first quarter, as neither team led by more than four points. The Jaspers took an 11-7 advantage on three-pointers by Tatum and Williams, but Canisius scored the next four points to tie it. Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA) then sank a layup to put Manhattan up 13-11 after one period.
Manhattan extended its cushion to six points at 22-16 midway through the second quarter before the Griffs went on a 7-0 spurt to go in front, 23-22. Ross immediately countered with a layup to start a 9-0 run that gave the Jaspers an eight-point, 31-23 cushion at intermission.
With the Jaspers leading 33-25 early in the third quarter, Canisius rallied for nine points in 90 seconds to regain a one-point edge, 34-33. Manhattan went back in front on an Ericksen layup before a pair of Canisius free throws made it 36-35 in favor of the Griffs. However, a pair of Ross free throws at the 5:17 mark started a 17-2 Manhattan run that gave the Jaspers a 52-38 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“We had a lot of great stops in the third quarter,” Olenowski said. “That was the key right there. We started building a lead and played great team defense.”
In the fourth quarter, Manhattan gradually increased its lead. After a Lauren D'Hont layup brought Canisius within 16 at 63-47, the Jaspers used a 12-2 spurt to open up their largest cushion of the contest, a 75-49 advantage with 2:38 remaining. The Griffs scored six of the final eight points to make the final margin 22 points, 77-55.
Maria Welch led Canisius with 11 points. Sara Hinrkisdottir added 10 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Saliah Serrette and D'Hont notched nine points apiece, while Margret Halfdanardottir posted seven points, three assists and three steals. As a team, Canisius shot 30.4 percent (17-of-56) from the floor, 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from downtown, and 68.2 percent (15-of-22) at the charity stripe.
Up next for Manhattan is a 7 p.m. matchup at first-place Marist (12-11, 11-2 MAAC) on Monday night. The Red Foxes posted a 79-73 victory over the Jaspers when the squads met in Riverdale on Jan. 12 and have won eight straight against Manhattan.
NOTES: The win was the 499th in program history…It was the first meeting between the teams since Jan. 2, 2015…Manhattan snapped a two-game losing streak against Canisius…The Griffs lead the all-time series 31-26…Manhattan improved to 8-1 this season when leading at halftime and 6-1 when scoring at least 70 points…The Jaspers collected 50 rebounds as a team for the third time this season…The last Manhattan player to grab 15 or more rebounds in a game was Kelly Regan, who had 15 at Iona on Jan. 4, 2009…Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) recorded her 100th career block in the contest, becoming just the fourth player in program history to reach that milestone.
