Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, NY – In its final home game of the season, the Manhattan College women's basketball team (8-20, 4-15 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) suffered a 63-50 loss to Monmouth (13-15, 8-11 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday night. Kayla Grimme (Altoona, PA) led the Jaspers with a game-high 25 points.
Grimme had five rebounds and three blocks to go along with her 25 points. Nyasha Irizarry (Brooklyn, NY) finished with nine points and five boards, while Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY) tallied eight points off the bench. Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) handed out three assists to go along with six steals, and Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY) also distributed three assists. Taylor Williams (Windsor, CT), meanwhile, grabbed a team-best six rebounds. The Jaspers shot 28.3 percent (17-of-60) from the field, 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from three-point range, and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) at the free throw line.
Monmouth scored the first eight points of the contest and led 10-2 before the Jaspers went on a 5-0 run to pull within three, 10-7. However, the Hawks ended the first quarter with four straight points to increase their advantage to 14-7, then opened the second quarter on a 9-3 spurt to go up 23-10 with 5:11 remaining in the first half. Another Irizarry trey brought Manhattan within eight at 25-17 with 1:52 left, but Monmouth's cushion was 11 points, 30-19, at intermission.
The Hawks extended the margin to 20 points at 40-20 midway through the third quarter, and held a 53-34 advantage entering the final period. After Monmouth increased its lead to a game-high 21 points, 61-40, with 4:26 left, the Jaspers ended the contest on a 10-2 run to make the final difference 13 points, 63-50.
Kayla Shaw recorded 18 points to pace the Hawks. Alexa Middleton contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, while Alaina Jarnot finished with eight points and four assists. Tyese Purvis added eight points, and McKinzee Parker dished out six assists for Monmouth. Christina Mitchell tallied three blocks and secured 10 boards, as the Hawks outrebounded the Jaspers 46-32. Monmouth shot 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the floor, 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from downtown, and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) at the charity stripe.
With the loss, the Jaspers are now locked into the No. 10 seed in the MAAC Tournament, and they will open the event at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday against either Monmouth or Canisius. But first, Manhattan concludes the regular season with a 2 p.m. matchup at Marist (13-16, 10-9 MAAC) on Sunday afternoon. The Red Foxes posted a 62-47 victory over the Jaspers in Riverdale on Nov. 29.
NOTES: The teams met for the second time in eight days…Monmouth leads the all-time series 13-11…The Jaspers and Hawks split the season series for the first time since 2013-14…Grimme had 25 points in both contests against Monmouth this season…She's scored at least 24 points in four of Manhattan's last eight games, and reached the 20-point plateau for the sixth time this season…Tatum recorded six steals for the second straight game…Nicole Anderson (Hamden, CT) played in her 100th career contest on Friday night…The seniors on the Manhattan cheerleading and dance teams, as well as the Pep Band, were honored at halftime.
