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Riverdale, NY - The Manhattan women's basketball team will travel to Fairfield, CT, Wednesday, November 15 to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers. Tip-off is set for 6 pm.
This is the second game of the season for the Jaspers, who fell to Stony Brook on Saturday, November 11.
TOP STORYLINES
- Senior center Kayla Grimme is on track to reach 1,000 career points early this season. Grimme finished the 2016-17 campaign with 973 points, just 27 points off the mark. Her nine points against Stony Brook on November 11 leave her just 18 shy of the mark.
- Wednesday's matchup will serve as a homecoming of sorts for both Head Coach Heather Vulin and Assistant Coach Callan Taylor. Vulin was a member of the Pioneers' coaching staff from 2002-08, including four years as the team's recruiting coordinator. Taylor is a former NEC Player of the Year at Sacred Heart.
- During Vulin's tenure, Sacred Heart posted a 124-55 overall record and went 85-23 in the NEC. Vulin's recruits (including Taylor) went on to earn numerous awards, including five NEC all-rookie players, two NEC Rookies of the Year, two NEC Players of the Year, and seven NEC all-conference selections.
- Taylor graduated in 2012 as the Pioneers' all-time leading rebounder (1,123) and ranked second in career scoring (1,822). She earned all-NEC honors each season and first team all-NEC nods during her junior and senior campaigns. Taylor is a two-time NEC all-tournament team honoree and was a member of the 2011-12 ECAC Division I all-star second team. Her senior year, she was the 2011-12 NEC Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
- For Vulin, returning to Sacred Heart is also a family affair: Her husband, Kevin, played for the Pioneers from 1992-96. He led the team in scoring (573) and rebounding (316) his senior year, averaging 21.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Kevin Vulin was named the New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Year for the 1995-96 season. He returned to Sacred Heart as an assistant coach in 2002, and the couple met while each working on their respective staffs.
- The Jaspers and Pioneers last met on December 17, 2012. Sacred Heart took the game 55-38 at the Pitt Center. After finishing the first half tied at 25 apiece, the Pioneers' defense shut down Manhattan in the second half, allowing just 13 points.
- Manhattan leads the series 3-2. Both of the Pioneers' wins against the Jaspers came at home. In 2011, Sacred Heart fell to Manhattan 52-48 in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational. The Jaspers went on to reach the semifinals of that postseason tournament, losing to eventual winner, the University of Alabama Birmingham, 62-43.
- Manhattan started four veteran players in its season opener: guard Amani Tatum, guard Nyasha Irizarry, center Mikki Guiton, and center Kayla Grimme. The fifth starting position was filled by newcomer Lynette Taitt, a freshman guard from Irvington, NJ.
- In her first collegiate game, Taitt scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds, and nabbed two steals in her 27 minutes. Freshman center Courtney Warley played 13 minutes, scoring three points and tallying two steals and one rebound.
- Guiton led the Jaspers in scoring against Stony Brook, posting 17 points in 26 minutes of play. Sophomore guard Gabby Cajou came off the bench to contribute 11 points, as well as three rebounds and three assists. Tatum scored 10 points in the game, and added seven assists, four rebounds, and four steals.
- Grimme pulled down her 700th career rebound during the Stony Brook game. She now ranks eighth on Manhattan's all-time rebounding list.