RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Welcome to the MAAC Mount St. Mary's. The Manhattan women's basketball team dispatched the Mount in their MAAC debut Saturday afternoon, 65-46, at Draddy Gym.
The Jaspers move to 3-6 on the year and 1-0 in the MAAC. The Mountaineers drop to 4-5 and 0-1 in MAAC play.
"I wanted my team to realize it doesn't matter how many minutes you play, you start, you don't start, you got to bring energy and passion to everything we do," Said head coach
Heather Vulin following the team's win. "I really felt everybody that was eligible to play today really brought that, that was the difference in today's game."
"I think the team, everyone, picked it up today," Added
Bella Nascimento. "We were really energetic, we were hyped to get the job done on both ends, especially defense because this is our team. We want to be known as a defensive team and I think we brought that today."
Manhattan threw the Mount for a loop with a different starting five than they had used before, with
Anne Bair,
Narrie Dodson, and
Christina Katsamouri all drawing their first starts of the year. They were joined by Nascimento and
Leyla Ozturk. That group got the Green and White and 8-5 lead before being subbed out at about the halfway point in the first quarter.
They were replaced by the typical starting crew of
Dee Dee Davis,
Emily LaPointe,
Jade Blagrove, and
Petra Juric.
Brazil Harvey-Carr joined those four and they took over the final five minutes the opening period, going on an 11-5 run to close out the quarter, ending the opening 10 with a 19-10 advantage. In that stretch,
Dee Dee Davis provided eight points and Juric accounted for the other three courtesy of a three-point play down low off an offensive rebound.
Manhattan kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, outscoring the Mount 17-11 in the period. There was no shortage of fantastic plays during the quarter, including a transition basket by Dodson off a feed from Harvey-Carr. In the quarter, LaPointe provided a basket off an offensive rebound while Nascimento poured in seven. Blagrove added two on a reverse layup and the other three points came from Juric.
The Jaspers kept up the pressure coming out of the break, opening the quarter with a 14-2 run. Nascimento was the catalyst, scoring nine of those 14.
The Mount showed some life, scoring eight straight points in the closing minutes of the third, chipping the lead down to 50-31, but Harvey-Carr drilled a three to stop the Mount's momentum right in its tracks. Nascimento added another three with 39 seconds left, making the score 57-35 going into the final quarter.
Nascimento finished with a game-high 21-points on 8-19 from the field while adding four rebounds. Davis finished with nine points and 10 boards while Bair handed out a season-high six assists.
As a team, the Jaspers out-rebounded the Mountaineers 42-31 while forcing 23 turnovers.
Manhattan travels to Hamden, Conn. for their first road MAAC showdown of the year, squaring off with the preseason favorite, Quinnipiac with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. at M&T Bank Arena.
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