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RIVERDALE, NY – Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) and the Manhattan College women's basketball team gave the 1,154 fans on “Kid's Day Out” something to cheer about on Monday. Grimme registered a career-high 27 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Jaspers (7-14, 3-9 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) to a 57-44 victory over Saint Peter's (3-18, 2-10 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium.
Saint Peter's led 8-7 with 3:04 left in the quarter when Grimme sank a trey to start an 8-2 rally that put the Jaspers in front 15-10, and it was 15-12 in favor of Manhattan at the end of the period. After the Peacocks took a 16-15 advantage midway through the second quarter, a Grimme layup sparked a 12-0 run that gave the Jaspers an 11-point lead, 27-16, and Manhattan held a 27-18 cushion at the break.
A Grimme layup early in the third quarter once again made it an 11-point game, 29-18, but Saint Peter's responded with 14 of the next 17 points to tie the score at 32-32 with 3:27 remaining in the third. Two Grimme free throws gave Manhattan back the lead, and she added a three-ball late in the quarter to put the Jaspers up 39-35 entering the final period.
After a Sajanna Bethea bucket brought the Peacocks within two, 39-37, three-pointers by Grimme and Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY) pushed the margin back to eight points, 45-37, with 7:58 remaining. The Jaspers then used a 12-0 spurt to extend their advantage to a game-high 17 points at 56-39 with 2:02 to go. The final score was 57-44, as Manhattan completed the season sweep of Saint Peter's.
“I was really impressed with the team today,” Head Coach Heather Vulin said. “Everybody really stepped up and found a way to win this game.”
Grimme surpassed the 20-point plateau for the third time in Manhattan's last four games, and she finished one rebound shy of her third straight double-double. Parahus recorded 13 points, and Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) added 10 points. Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY) tallied seven points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) also grabbed six boards, as the Jaspers outrebounded the Peacocks 40-33. Manhattan shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the field, 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from long range, and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) at the charity stripe.
For the Peacocks, Zoe Pero had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Talah Hughes added 14 points and eight boards to go along with three blocks. As a team, Saint Peter's shot 33.3 percent (17-of-51) from the floor, 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from downtown, and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) at the free throw line.
The Jaspers hit the road for their next three games, starting with a 7 p.m. matchup at Canisius (6-15, 5-7 MAAC) on Thursday that will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The Griffs posted a 62-57 victory over Manhattan when the squads met in Riverdale on Jan. 2.
NOTES: Grimme is averaging 21.8 points and 11.0 rebounds over the Jaspers' last four contests…Manhattan swept the season series with Saint Peter's for the second straight year and has won six straight against the Peacocks…Saint Peter's leads the all-time series 52-31…Morgan Graziano (Holmdel, NJ) played a career-high nine minutes off the bench and had two blocks…The Jaspers are 3-0 this season when pulling down 40 or more rebounds…This was the seventh consecutive year in which Manhattan hosted a “Kid's Day Out” game…As a part of “Kid's Day Out,” the Jaspers welcomed nearly 1,000 elementary school students from Community School 300, Equality Charter School, PS 86, PS 93, PS 107, PS 154 and St. Gabriel's School…The students participated in a picture/essay contest about what “#playGREEN” means to them, and the winners received t-shirts at halftime.
