Box Score
Box Score
LOUDONVILLE, NY – Trailing by three with 22 seconds left, the Manhattan College women's basketball team had the ball and a chance to tie on Friday night. However, after a Manhattan timeout, Siena's Denisha Petty-Evans stole the inbounds pass and drove down for a layup to give the Saints (10-14, 9-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) a 67-62 victory over the Jaspers (7-17, 3-12 MAAC) at the Alumni Recreation Center.
Manhattan led 49-47 after three quarters, but Siena's Kollyns Scarbrough scored the first seven points of the final period to give her team a 54-49 advantage. The Saints increased the margin to seven points at 64-57 before Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) drained a trey to make it a four-point game, 64-60, with 2:21 left. After Siena didn't score on the other end, a Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, PA) layup cut Manhattan's deficit to two, 64-62.
It remained that way until the 22-second mark, when Scarbrough was fouled and hit the first free throw. She missed the second one, however, and Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) grabbed the rebound. Head Coach Heather Vulin immediately called timeout and moved the ball into the frontcourt, but Siena got the steal and layup to secure the win.
“We have to do a better job executing at the end,” Vulin said. “We had some crucial turnovers at the end of the game when we had the opportunity to put the ball in the basket.”
In a contest that featured eight ties and 16 lead changes, neither side held an advantage of more than seven points. Siena jumped out to an early 8-2 cushion, but the Jaspers responded with a 9-2 run to go up 11-10 on a Grimme layup with 4:18 left in the first quarter. The Saints countered with five straight points, though, to regain a four-point edge, 15-11, and they held a 19-18 lead after 10 minutes.
Grimme hit a jumper to put Manhattan back in front early in the second quarter, and the teams traded baskets for most of the period. After Gabby Cajou's (Stony Point, NY) driving layup gave the Jaspers a 37-35 lead with 40 seconds left before halftime, Anna Lundquist drained a three on the other end to make it 38-37 in favor of Siena. However, an offensive rebound and put back by Grimme just before the halftime buzzer sounded gave Manhattan a 39-38 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Jaspers then opened up their largest lead of the game, a six-point edge, when treys by Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY) and Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT) made it 47-41 midway thru the third quarter. Siena rallied for the next six points to tie it again, but an Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) jumper put Manhattan up two, 49-47, heading into the final frame.
Irizarry sank five three-pointers and finished with a team-high 15 points. Grimme, meanwhile, had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds to go along with six blocks. Guiton also tallied 14 points, and Tatum handed out a career-best 10 assists. The Jaspers shot 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from long range, and 80 percent (4-of-5) at the free throw line.
Scarbrough led the Saints with a game-high 17 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. She also collected eight rebounds and four steals. Meghan Donohue finished with 14 points and seven boards, as the Saints outrebounded the Jaspers 37-33. Jackie Benitez, meanwhile, registered two assists and three steals to go along with 11 points. As a team, Siena shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the floor, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from downtown, and 68.4 percent (13-of-19) at the charity stripe.
After playing five out of six on the road, the Jaspers will be at home for three of their next four contests. Manhattan welcomes Fairfield (12-11, 9-5 MAAC) to Draddy Gymnasium for its annual “Play 4 Kay” breast cancer awareness game at 3 p.m. on Sunday. It will be the opener of a doubleheader, as the men's team faces Saint Peter's at 6 p.m.
NOTES: The teams split the season series for the second consecutive year…Siena holds a 42-22 all-time edge over the Jaspers…Manhattan shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the floor in the first half…Five of Grimme's blocks came in the first 8:13 of the contest…Grimme notched her sixth double-double of the season, and her fourth in six games…Irizarry has drained 16 treys in three career games at the Alumni Recreation Center…Tatum's previous career-high was eight assists at Brown on Nov. 22…She's the first Jasper with double-digit assists in a game since Blake Underhill had 13 against Quinnipiac on Feb. 24, 2015.
