Manhattan Welcomes Northeastern To Draddy

Riverdale, NY - Fresh off a bye weekend, Manhattan (5-5) will host Northeastern (1-5) in non-conference action on Tuesday, January 19 at 2:00 pm.

How To Watch
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Quick Hits
* The teams will be meeting for the second time ever, as Northeastern posted a 65-45 win on December 14, 1985. However, the result of the game was reversed as a result of forfeiture.
* The Jaspers will be squaring off against a CAA team for the first time since falling to Drexel on December 7, 2018.
* Senior Courtney Warley continues to lead the MAAC while ranking among the nation's best in rebounding (11.5-11th), defensive rebounds (8.2 drpg-15th) and double-doubles (4-43rd).
* Warley also is among the league leaders in scoring (11.3 ppg-15th), steals (2.0 spg-6th), blocks (1.2 bpg-7th), minutes (35.5 mpg-5th) and free throw percentage (.830-5th).
* As a team, Manhattan is among the nation's best in scoring defense (57.2 ppg-34th), blocks (4.5 bpg-50th), free throw percentage (.728-80th), field goal percentage defense (.373-81st) and rebounding (40.0 rpg-94th).

50+70=Success
Manhattan swept Saint Peter's, while improving to 13-1 when scoring at least 70 points and 22-2 when limiting teams to 50 points or less under Head Coach Heather Vulin.

Pounding The Glass
Warley has paced the Jaspers on the glass in all 10 games this year, while hitting for double-figures on seven occasions. She snared a season-high 15 the last time out at Marist, and now reached double-digits 39 times in her career.

Double Your Pleasure
Warley notched her MAAC-leading fourth double-double of the year, and the 18th of her career with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the opener against Marist. She previously recorded double-doubles with 13 points and 12 rebounds in the series-opening victory over Saint Peter, 17 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime win against Quinnipiac and with 14 points and a season-high 13 rebounds to help secure a sweep of Rider.

Warley's Weekend Averages
at Rider - 16.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.5 spg, 1.5 bpg 
- Season-high 19 points in the opener
Quinnipiac - 12.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.0 spg, 1.5 bpg
Saint Peter's - 12.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 bpg
at Marist - 7.5 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 1.5 spg
- Season-high 15 rebounds in the finale

Pam In The Post
Graduate student Pamela Miceus is averaging 10.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg over her last four games with three double-figure scoring performances, after registering double-figures just twice in her first three seasons. On the year, Miceus is has notched 7.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.8 bpg (3rd MAAC), while converting on 48.5 percent (6th MAAC) from the floor.

More Pam
In the series-opening victory over Saint Peter's, Miceus scored a career-high 12 points, before collecting nine points, nine rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals to help secure the sweep. 

Sini Heating Up
Senior Sini Mäkelä made her first start of the season in the finale at Marist, scoring five points, after pulling down six rebounds in the opener. Over her last three games she is averaging 5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 1.3 apg. 

CK Sparks Manhattan
With Manhattan trailing by nine points early in the second quarter in the finale against Saint Peter's, sophomore Christina Katsamouri provided immediate offense to the tune of eight-straight points. She followed that up with six more points after halftime, en route to finishing with a career and team-high 14 points, on 6-of-8 shooting, in a personal-best 25 minutes.
  
Balanced Attack
Katsamouri became the fifth different Jasper to pace the team in scoring in the finale against Saint Peter's, and is averaging 3.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg.

Katsamouri On The Glass
Katsamouri pulled down a career-high six rebounds in the finale at Marist, one night after grabbing five in the opener.

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good
Thanks to the sweep of Saint Peter's, Vulin is a perfect 11-0 against Saint Peter's, while extending the Jaspers' winning streak over the Peahens to 15.

Bucking The Trend
Manhattan's second win against Saint Peter's was its first of the year when trailing at the half.

Dee+Dee=Consistency
Junior Dee Dee Davis has recorded double-figures in points a team-eight times this year, while pulling down at least five rebounds on six occasions. She scored a season-high 18 points Rutgers, before registering 14 points, on the strength of three overtime triples, with six rebounds in the win over Quinnipiac. Davis is 16th in the MAAC in scoring (11.2 ppg) to go along with 4.3 rpg and 1.3 spg.

More Davis
Davis, who missed all of last year due to injury, has scored in double-figures in 14 of her last 17 games, and 18 times in her career. As a freshman in 2018-19, she paced the Jaspers with 8.9 ppg, shooting 40 percent, including 33.9 percent from deep.

LaPointe Calls Game
Sophomore Emily LaPointe's putback at the buzzer lifted the Jaspers to the aforementioned 71-70 victory over the Bobcats. LaPointe finished with 15 points, a career-high nine assists and five rebounds over 44 minutes. The following weekend, she averaged 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.5 apg in a sweep of Saint Peter's.

Filling It Up
LaPoine has registered double-figures in scoring four times, grabbed at least five rebounds on seven occasions and dished out four assists in four games. On the year, she is averaging 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg (t-18th MAAC), 3.5 apg (7th MAAC), while posting a 1.1 assist/to ratio (10th MAAC). 

More Than Just A Basketball Player
Earlier this year, LaPointe was named the MAAC representative to the newly formed NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Engagement Group, which will serve as an amplifying voice for women's basketball on key initiatives, legislation and various issues.

Manhattan Is ...
* 12-0 the last three-plus years when scoring at least 70 points.
* 4-0 when leading at the half this season.
* 2-1 in games decided by five points or less this year.

Saint Peter's Series Notes
* In the series-opening win against Saint Peter's, all 11 Jaspers scored with a season-high four registering double-figures.
* Manhattan's reserves scored a season-high 26 points in the finale.
* The Jaspers also erased an early 11-point deficit thanks to shooting 41.6 percent from the floor, while assisting on 20 of their 26 field goals.

High Five
Senior Gabby Cajou registered her 25th career five-assist performance in the series-opening victory over Saint Peter's, handing out six dimes.

Straight To The Point
Cajou has done a little bit everything in the early part of the season. She dished out seven assists vs. Stony Brook, before scoring 10 points with six rebounds in the series-opening win at Rider, and went for 12 points in the finale against Quinnipiac. On the year, she is averaging 4.6 ppg and 3.0 apg (t-8th MAAC) with a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio (t-5th MAAC).

Overtime Notes
Manhattan's 71-70 victory over Quinnipiac snapped an eight-game losing streak in overtime games that dated back to a 71-59 triumph against Monmouth on December 17. 2011.

Notable From Rider
* Warley was dominant in the Jaspers' sweep of Rider, averaging 16.5 ppg, 11.0 rpg and 3.5 spg, highlighted by going for 14 points and 13 rebounds in the finale.
* With her nine rebounds in the opener, she joined Kayla Grimme (2013-18) as the lone players in school history with 700 rebounds and 100 blocks.
* Manhattan outscored Rider 60-36 in the paint for the weekend, while posting a 22-11 advantage in fastbreak points.
* The Jaspers held the Broncs without a field goal in the second quarter of Saturday's victory.
* Vulin became the sixth coach in program history to eclipse the 50-win plateau thanks to registering back-to-back victories.

Balling From The Bench
* Senior Lizahya Morgan scored nine points, fueled by three triples, in game two vs. Quinnipiac and is shooting 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from deep.
* In the finale at Marist junior Sydney Watkins scored eight points, after draining two triples in the win over Quinnipiac.
* Sophomore Jenna Jordan scored six points with two assists in the series-opening win over Saint Peter's, before adding five points in the first game at Marist.
* Classmate Nia Bailey scored the first four points of her career in the opener at Marist, and sparked a game-ending 24-10 run in the second win at Rider with a pair of assists and a free throw.
* Freshman Emma-Wilson Santos grabbed a career-high seven rebounds with three points in the first victory over Saint Peter's.

Recruiting Pays Dividends
In each of the last two seasons, Vulin's recruiting classes paid immediate dividends as the Jaspers were paced in scoring each year by a freshman with Davis topping the charts in 2018-19 and LaPointe a year ago.

Preseason #1
Manhattan was selected as the MAAC Preseason No. 1 for the 2020-21 season. The Jaspers top the MAAC's preseason coaches poll for the first time in the modern era of the league. The no. 1 preseason ranking is also the Jaspers' highest since the 2002-03 season, when Manhattan was selected to finish second in the league. The Jaspers went on to win the MAAC Championship over Siena that season. 

Three's A Crowd
In addition to the team accolades, Warley and LaPointe were named to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team, while Cajou was tabbed to the Third Team.

In The All-Time Jasper Career Annals ...
* Warley ranks eighth with 794 career rebounds, and with one more will match Lindsay Loutsenhizer (2008-12). 
* She is also fifth in program history with 121 blocks, 11 behind Eve Walters (1998-2003).
* Miceus, meanwhile, is right behind Warley in sixth with 89 rejections.
* Cajou is 10th with 325 career assists, and with three would match Michelle Pacheco (2006-10). 

#playGREEN
The Jaspers' team motto "playGREEN" is a concept developed by Vulin. For the team, playGREEN is a commitment to the pursuit of excellence. Vulin expects her players to have that mindset every day, as they play for their teammates, for their program, and to represent Manhattan College at a championship level. The Jaspers use #playGREEN on all of the team's social media channels.

The Newcomers
Manhattan welcomes three freshmen and one transfer for the 2019-20 season. 
* Jordan joins the squad from St. Francis Brooklyn, where she averaged 6.3 ppg, shooting 46.3 percent as a freshman.
* Bailey, who hails from New Rochelle, was named a 2019-20 Conference I All-Section selection, in addition to being named a Journal News/LoHud Girls Basketball Honorable Mention for Westchester and Putnam Counties. 
* Favour Mbeledeogu won the Pennsylvania District Three Class 2A championship as a member of the Linden Hall for Girls squad and also played for Raptors Academy (2016) and Deepbond Academy (2017). 
* Rounding out the newcomers, Wilson-Saltos joins the team from the Bronx's Preston High School, and is the first player out of Preston to play Division I basketball in 16 years.

United For Justice
For 2020-21, the MAAC launched its United for Justice campaign and will work both internally at the conference office and with all 11 member institutions to advance and execute strategies to combat racial injustices within our society. The MAAC and its member institutions will work to address the long-standing history of systemic racism and inequality that minorities in this country have and still currently face, with a goal to educate those around us and to create substantial change in our communities. The MAAC basketball programs have united to focus their messaging platform for the upcoming season on Black Lives Matter. Specifically, the coaches will be showcasing the BLM messaging on warm ups and uniform patches. 

Scouting Northeastern
The Huskies enter with a 1-5 record, and most recently picked up its first win of the year 54-53 at Hofstra on January 9. Mide Oriyomi is averaging 13.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg, while Stella Clark checks in with 11.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg to pace the Northeastern offense.

Head Coach Heather Vulin
Vulin was named the eighth head coach in Manhattan College program history on April 25, 2016. A 1999 graduate of Minnesota-Morris, she earned nearly two decades of coaching experience before arriving in Riverdale. She began her career as a graduate assistant at North Dakota State from 2000-02, then spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart from 2002-08. Vulin was on the staff at Villanova for seven seasons (2008-15) before spending the 2015-16 campaign as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Tech. She won her first game as a head coach against Holy Cross, defeating the Crusaders 60-56 on November 11, 2016, and her first MAAC game against Siena on December 30, 2016, when the Jaspers defeated the Saints 68-66.

Vulin has continued to raise the standard for the women's basketball program since her arrival at Manhattan. She mentored Warley to the program's first MAAC First Team selection since 2011 and the program's second MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Award. In addition, she guided LaPointe to the unanimous 2019-20 MAAC Rookie of the Year award, and Cajou to the program's first MAAC Sixth Player of the Year award in 2018. The Jaspers have also earned a spot in the MAAC quarterfinals for three-straight years.

The Coaching Staff
Vulin's staff consists of Allie Bassetti, Callan Taylor, Rena Wakama and Kiambra Griffin. 

In her fifth season, Bassetti serves as an assistant coach and the team's recruiting coordinator. She joined Vulin at Manhattan after serving as the director of basketball operations at American from 2013-16. Also in her fifth season, Taylor was the 2011-12 NEC player of the year at Sacred Heart and played basketball professionally overseas. Wakama is in her fourth season with the Jaspers and her second as an assistant. A 2014 graduate of Western Carolina, she played professionally, making stops in the United Kingdom and the FIBA African Basketball League. Griffin joined the Jaspers last year as director of basketball operations. Prior to that, the 2018 Davidson grad was a graduate assistant at Columbia.

2019-20 Recap
Manhattan finished the 2019-20 regular season 15-14 (12-8 MAAC), tying for third place in the league rankings, the program's best conference finish since 2011. The Jaspers went 6-1 down the stretch, winning their last five games of the season en route to securing a #4 seed for the MAAC Tourney.

Warley's World
Warley earned unanimous 2020-21 Preseason All-MAAC First Team honors, after averaging 11.6 ppg and 8.7 rpg, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and nabbing 2.4 spg (38th in NCAA Division I) on her way to becoming just the eighth player in program history to earn MAAC First Team honors. 

What's A Jasper?
Manhattan is the only athletic program in Division I with the "Jaspers" nickname. The unique moniker honors one of Manhattan's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C. Brother Jasper served Manhattan College in the late 1800s and was the first coach of Manhattan's baseball team. He is also credited as the creator of the "seventh-inning stretch," which has become a time-honored tradition at ballparks across the country. During a game in the 1880s, Brother Jasper noticed students getting restless in the middle of the seventh inning of a close game, so he called timeout and told the students to stand up a stretch for a few minutes before resuming the game. Since Manhattan regularly played the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in the 1880s and into the 1890s, the tradition spread into the major leagues.

AC Here We Come! 
The 2020-21 women's MAAC Championships will take place March 9-13 in Atlantic City, NJ. The tourney will be held at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

Trend Setter
Manhattan Athletic Director Marianne Reilly was the Jaspers' first-ever scholarship women's basketball player. She was also the first player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, finishing with 1,305 points, and was the first female inducted into the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Up Next
Manhattan will travel to Monmouth for a pair of games.