RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan women's basketball team will bring momentum into the MAAC Championship next week after handling the Rider Broncs at Draddy Gym Thursday evening, 69-52.
Manhattan will finish the regular season with a mark of 13-16 overall and an even 10-10 in the MAAC. Rider will enter their final game of the season with a record of 8-20 and 5-14 in MAAC play.
"I thought the first time we played Rider, I wasn't thrilled with our defense," said head coach
Heather Vulin following this evening's victory. "I'm big, not so much on holding them to a certain amount of points but in field goal percentage. I thought we let them take high-percentage shots, and they capitalized on them. I thought this game we did a much better job. I thought we set the tone early in the first half. Going into the tournament next week, and this being our last regular season game, that the girls were making a statement."
The first quarter ended in a deadlocked score of 11-11, but Manhattan came alive on the offensive end of the floor in the second. After trading baskets with the Broncs to open the quarter, a Jasper run was kicked off by back-to-back buckets by the reigning MAAC Player of the Week,
Dee Dee Davis.
The Broncs responded with baskets of their own, but it wasn't enough to stop the building tidal wave of Jasper's offense that was on the horizon. For the next 4:26 seconds, Rider failed to get on the board while surrendering 10 unanswered points, allowing Manhattan to walk into the halftime locker room with a comfortable lead of 32-18. Manhattan outscored the Broncs 21-7 in the second quarter, a quarter that ended up sealing the fate of the Broncs.
In the third quarter, the quarter's highlight came at the offensive end. Much like when the team played at Rider on Super Bowl Sunday, Davis once again beat the end of the quarter buzzer, this time from half-court.
Davis once again turned in a brilliant performance, pouring in a game-high 26 points while securing eight rebounds, handing out four assists, and recording four steals.
Emily LaPointe found ways to contribute other than scoring in her final game in Riverdale, finishing with three points, eight boards, and five assists.
"I have been challenged since I stepped on campus to improve my defense and not be a one-way player, not a one-dimensional player. It's very easy to have bad games when you're one-dimensional. I have been trying to improve my defense and get in people's heads. I do well when people talk trash," said LaPointe.
Manhattan out-rebounded the Broncs by 18, 42-24, and 15-7 on the offensive glass.
The regular season concluded this evening, with the Jaspers now turning their eyes towards Atlantic City for the MAAC Championship, which begins on Tuesday.
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