Riverdale, NY - It took 58 rebounds, 10 blocks and 28 fourth-quarter points, but the Manhattan Jaspers earned a 68-64 victory over Saint Peter's Saturday, erasing a 16-point deficit and sweeping the Peacocks for the 2019-20 regular season.
Manhattan improves to 9-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play, while Saint Peter's drops to 5-14 on the season and 2-8 in the MAAC.
Highlights:
- Manhattan trailed by 14 at halftime, after Saint Peter's made seven threes in the first two quarters and shot 50 percent from the floor. Peacock Taiah Thornton had 20 on her own in the first half, going 9-13 and adding three assists.
- Saint Peter's also tripped up the Jaspers on defense, forcing eight turnovers and converting them to 10 points in the first half alone.
- Down 13 to start the fourth, senior point guard Gabby Cajou (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) banked a long three as the shot clock ran down to cut the Saint Peter's lead to 10. She then snagged a defesive rebound for a fastbreak layup to get the Jaspers within single-digits for the first time since the second quarter, all within the first 1:15 of the final period. A minute later, Cajou drew a foul and nailed the layup on a fastbreak before converting the old-fashtioned three-point play to put the Peacock lead at six.
- Still down six with under five to play, freshman Emily LaPointe (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) sank two free throws to cut the lead to four. The following possession, she nabbed a steal and sank the fastbreak layup to get within two.
- LaPointe then took over, earning five more points, including a three with 2:36 to play to tie the game at 60 points apiece. LaPointe and Cajou then went a combined 4-4 from the line to take a 64-60 lead with under a minute to go.
- Saint Peter's Kendrea Williams hit a three in the far right corner to make it a one-point game with 55 seconds left, but Courtney Warley (West Chester, PA / Bishop Shanahan) made a layup in the paint to extend it back to three. A few more free throws down the stretch sealed the comeback for the Jaspers.
- LaPointe (13) and Cajou (12) combined for 25 of the Jaspers' 38 second-half points. LaPointe finished with a game-high 23, just a bucket off her career-high, while Cajou added 16. LaPointe doled out four assists and added five rebounds, a steal and a block to her stat line.
- Warley finished just one-point shy of a double-double, with nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Now with 586 career boards, Warley surpasses Nadia Peters (2007-12) for 15th in program history.
- Warley also swatted away a season-high four shots, bringing her career-block total to 98, just two away from the century mark.
- Manhattan's 58 rebounds is a season-high, besting the team's former high of 46 earned in another comeback win against Fairleigh Dickinson in November. The team's 10 blocked shots is also a season-high.
- The Jaspers' out-rebounded the Peacocks 58-41 and remain undefeated when beating out their opponent on the boards. Manhattan secured 16 rebounds in the fourth-quarter alone, including 12 on the defenisve end. Warley had six of those defensive boards in the quarter, and earned 11 of the Jaspers' 34 defensive rebounds in the game.
Up Next:
Manhattan remains home to host Siena on Thursday, February 6. The game will mark the team's Kids Day Game and tip is scheduled for 11:00 am.
