RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan women's basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit to come away with a 73-68 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins Thursday night at Draddy Gym.
Manhattan improves to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in MAAC play, while Canisius will also move to 5-7, 2-1 in the MAAC.
Head coach
Heather Vulin took down a member of her coaching tree, with Canisius's Sahar Nusseibeh being on her staff from 2016-2019.
"The thing with this group is they care so much," said Vulin after the game. "When things are not perfect, they get down on themselves, and you have to be fighters. You have to fight through it. I know it's hard to pull yourself out of that quicksand when you don't start off well. I was really proud of this effort. Some had rough first halves, but they returned and won the game for us."
In the opening 10 minutes,
Brazil Harvey-Carr came out firing, connecting on a pair of triples and a jumper on three consecutive trips down the court. The Golden Griffins responded to buckets of their own each trip. The Jaspers held on to a 12-11 lead at the media timeout.
It was a battle throughout the quarter, with neither team able to open a sizable lead. At the end of the quarter, Harvey-Carr had poured in 11 points on 4-7 from the field, with 3-5 coming from deep.
In the second quarter, Canisius opened a lead thanks to a 13-4 run that lasted most of the quarter. The Golden Griffins entered the halftime break with a 34-24 lead while outscoring the Green and White 15-8 in the quarter. In the second quarter,
Dee Dee Davis provided all eight points on 4-6 from the field.
"We here to win a championship, so we need to turn up and play aggressively every time," said
Bella Nascimento following the contest when discussing the thoughts at halftime. "Turn up. Be hyped. Let's go. That was our mentality, and we brought that to the table."
Coming out of the break,
Jade Blagrove secured an offensive rebound on the first possession and converted on a second-chance opportunity to cut the lead to eight, 34-26. Manhattan got a deep ball from Nascimento and a fast-break layup off a steal from Davis to cut the lead to 37-31 early in the third quarter. Davis connected on her signature shot, a free throw line jumper, on back-to-back trips down to cut the lead to 41-37 at the third-quarter media timeout.
Out of the media timeout, Davis drove into the lane and converted a layup to bring the Jaspers within two. The Jaspers regained the lead for the first time since 8:44 left in the second off of a layup from
Brazil Harvey-Carr off a feed from Davis. The Golden Griffins regained the lead, taking a 51-47 lead down the stretch.
In the final 10 minutes, Canisius' Vannessa Gerrelts connected on a three midway through the quarter to extend the lead to 60-51. Nascimento responded with a floater to make it 60-53.
Leyla Ozturk drew an offensive foul on Sisi Eleko on the following possession. Going into the fourth quarter media timeout, the Jaspers cut the lead to 60-56. Nascimento got the lead down to one, 60-59, with an old-fashioned three-point play. The Jaspers took the lead on the next trip down off a Davis layup from Nascimento.
Canisius's Dani Haskell connected on a triple with just under 2 minutes left to take a 64-61 lead. Nascimento responded with a three of her own on the next trip down to tie the game at 64. She then stole the ball from Haskell on the next trip down, which led to a shooting foul that put Davis on the line. Davis hit the pair from the stripe to give Manhattan a 66-64 advantage with under a minute to play.
Another Golden Griffin turnover on the next possession sent Davis back to the line. She again went 2-2 to take a 65-61 lead with 39.4 left. With 20 seconds left, the Golden Griffins got in the lane down, but
Petra Juric blocked the layup attempt. Later on,
Anne Bair hit 2-2 free throws to seal the win for the Jaspers.
Harvey-Carr turned in her first double-figure performance of the season, finishing with 13 points and seven boards. Davis tied her season-high with 28 points while handing out six assists. Nascimento finished with 16 points.
The Jaspers stay at Draddy to welcome the Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The game can be seen on
ESPN3, and tickets can be purchased
HERE.
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