Jaspers Face Peacocks In Jersey City

Jersey City, NJ - Manhattan women's basketball will travel to neighboring New Jersey Saturday to take on Saint Peter's at the Yanitelli Center starting at 2:00 p.m.

Game Notes:

Last Outing
The Jaspers' week of wins came to an end February 7, as Manhattan fell to Marist 62-51 in Draddy Gymnasium. Manhattan (6-15, 4-6 MAAC) opened the game with a 20-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Jaspers shot 61.5 percent in the period, hitting three treys. They also held Marist to 27.3 percent shooting from the floor and 0-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Manhattan had four steals against the Red Foxes in the quarter, as well as 10 fastbreak points. 

The Red Foxes made adjustments in the second that wiped away Manhattan's lead quickly. Marist held the Jaspers to just one field goal in the quarter, while shooting more than 57 percent on the other end. The Red Foxes also incurred an 11-3 advantage on the defensive boards in the period, leaving Manhattan with zero second-chance points. Marist led by as much as 15 in the game, though Manhattan was able to pull within eight points at just under a minute to play. Freshman D'yona Davis (Bronx, NY / Truman) scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, going 3-4 from the floor and hitting four of five free throw attempts. Though Manhattan kept pace with Marist in the second half (a slight 31-29 advantage went to the Red Foxes), the second-quarter hole was too difficult to overcome. 

DeeDee in Double Figures
The reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week, Davis scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Jaspers on the offensive end against Marist. She shot 50 percent from the floor with two threes, and added two assists and two steals. The 20-point night improved on her previous scoring high of 18 against Stony Brook on November 17 and marked the sixth time this season Davis has led Manhattan in scoring, as well as her ninth double-figure scoring game, a team high. 

Davis has earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors three times the season.

Wonderful Warley
Though held to just eight boards against Marist on Thursday, sophomore center Courtney Warley (West Chester, PA / Bishop Shanahan) remains on top of the MAAC in rebounding with 8.7 per game, as well as offensive rebounding with 3.8 per game. She leads the league in blocks, as well, with 1.9 per contest. Against MAAC opponents, Warley tops the list with 2.6 steals per game. 

Warley is also approaching some season and career milestones. She is 81 rebounds away from joining the program's single-season rebounding top 10 (Leigh Ann Walker and Kayla Grimme are tied in ninth at 263). Warley is also 15 offensive and 53 defensive boards away from those respective top 10 lists. And, with 39 blocks on the year, she needs seven to join the program's top 10 single-season blocks list, as well as just three to tie for 10th in program history (she currently has 68 career blocks).

Conference Stats
Manhattan is holding opponents to less than 58 points per game this season, ranking second in the MAAC. The Jaspers are also third in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense, allowing just .301 shooting behind the arc. Manhattan is the MAAC's fourth-best rebounding team, pulling down 37 a game. The team leads the conference in blocked shots (4.3 per contest), and ranks fourth in steals per game (9.2).

About the Peacocks
The Peacocks enter the game at 6-15 overall and 1-9 in the MAAC. The team is coming off an 81-57 loss to Niagara on Monday night. Wil'lisha Jackson earned her first career double-double, finishing with a team high of 21 points and 10 rebounds. Zoe Pero finished with 14 points against the Purple Eagles, going 6-7 from the free throw line while also grabbing six rebounds. Pero leads the team in scoring, rebounds and blocks, totaling 13.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. 

Previous Meeting
This will be the first meeting of Manhattan and Saint Peter's this season. They last met on February 23, 2018 at the Yanitelli Center, with Manhattan taking the 60-39 win. The Jaspers held the lead for just over 34 minutes of the game, widening the gap in the second quarter by outscoring the Peacocks 22-12 in the period. Manhattan doubled Saint Peter's total points in the paint at 32-16, and scored 15 points off the Peacocks' 20 turnovers. Eleven players scored for Manhattan, and the 21-point win was the Jaspers' second-largest margin of victory at that point in the season.

All-Time Series
Saint Peter's leads the series 52-33.