Manhattan Takes On MAAC-Undefeated Rider

Lawrenceville, NJ - Manhattan women's basketball will head to Lawrenceville, NJ to take on Rider Thursday, January 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm on ESPN3. 

GAME NOTES

Last Outing
Manhattan held the Iona Gaels to just two points in the third quarter on January 25, on the way to a 54-32 victory in Draddy Gymnasium. Iona's 32 points was the lowest opponent point total for the Jaspers this season, with the Gaels hitting just 14 field goals, also an opponent low. 

Manhattan earned 14 steals in the game, a season-high for the team, while forcing 24 turnovers from the Gaels and scoring 22 points off TOs. With 45 rebounds in the game, Manhattan was one off its team season-high and out-rebounded Iona by 12. Manhattan is undefeated when out-rebounding its opponent (7-0), as well as undefeated when earning 40 or more boards in a game (4-0).

League-Leading Rookie
Freshman Emily LaPointe (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island) earned her league-high fifth MAAC Rookie of the Week award on January 27 after pacing the Jasper offense with 14.5 points per game over two games last week. LaPointe leads the squad in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game (14th in the MAAC). She also ranks 14th for three-point field goal percentage (.342) and fifth for three-pointers made (2.1 per game).

Warley With the Steal
Courtney Warley (West Chester, PA / Bishop Shanahan) ranks in the MAAC's top 20 for scoring (10.4 points per game), while ranking fourth in rebounding (7.9 per game). With 2.6 steals per game, she is second in the league and ranks 39th in all of Division I.

Hitting Milestones
With 268 career assists, Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) is nine away from tying Joann Nwafili (2004-08) for 15th all-time and 31 away from the program's top 10. She is also 19 steals away from tying Michelle Pacheco (2006-10) at 15th on that all-time list. 

Warley has 567 career rebounds, now 18 away from tying Nadia Peters (2007-12) for 15th all-time and 33 rebounds away from 600. Warley is also 33 steals away from tying for 15th on that all-time list. 

With a career-high four blocks against Iona on January 25, Pamela Miceus (Haverstraw, NY / North Rockland) moved into 13th all-time, surpassing Linda Bores (1980-84) and current Manhattan Athletic Director Marianne Reilly (1978-82). She now has 54 blocks for her career and is 11 away from 12th place in program history.

About the Broncs
Rider remains the lone undefeated team in the MAAC, coming into today's game with eight conference wins so far. They are led by the 2018-19 MAAC Player of the Year Stella Johnson, who's 25.8 points per game leads all of Division I. 

As a team, Rider is third in the MAAC in scoring, averaging 70.9 points per game. The Broncs also lead the league in rebounding, pulling down 39.8 points per game, as well as 28.4 defensive boards per contest.

Previous Meeting
Manhattan overcame a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to topple Rider 60-57 in Lawrenceville on February 17, 2019. Lizahya Morgan (East Hartford, CT / Capital Preparatory Magnet) and Kania Pollock (Queens, NY / The Mary Louis Academy) each scored a team-high 12 points for Manhattan, including 10 second-half points from Pollock. Lynette Taitt (Bronx, NY / Bishop Loughlin) put in 11 points of her own, including six in the last 2:45 of the game. Taitt added a game-high four steals, six rebounds and three assists. 

All-Time Series
Manhattan leads Rider 30-18 after splitting two games during the 2018-19 season.