RIVERDALE, NY– The Manhattan Jaspers women's basketball team (9-6, 3-3 MAAC) handled the Merrimack Warriors by a score of 77-61 in its inaugural meeting on Saturday afternoon inside Draddy Gymnasium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Graduate forward Leyla Ozturk opened the contest with the first two points just 14 seconds into the game.
- Following the media timeout, the Jaspers and Warriors traded multiple baskets, and the stanza concluded with a triple from Merrimack's Melaschenko just ahead of Manhattan by three.
- Back-to-back buckets for Nitzan Amar and Ozturk put the Jaspers in front.
- Nine different lead changes throughout the first 15 minutes of the game kept the margin within one for the remainder of the half.
- The Jaspers opened up the third quarter on an 8-2 run, with six of those eight coming from graduate forward Ines Gimenez-Monserrat.
- Senior forward Petra Juric added five points by herself to extend Manhattan's lead to a team-high nine.
- Through 30 minutes, Manhattan had outscored Merrimack by 14 points, allowing just nine points to be etched into the score column.
- A pair of offensive caroms from Amar and Gimenez-Monserrat allowed Amar and Ozturk to grab buckets underneath, extending the lead to a game-high 20.
STATS AND NOTES
- The victory for head coach Heather Vulin's squad extends its winning streak to three straight games.
- Leyla Ozturk and Nitzan Amar both registered their first double-doubles of the season. The pair join Petra Juric as the three Jaspers to record the feat in 2024-25.
- Amar's 10 assists are a new career high, previously set with eight at Winthrop in 2022 as a member of UNCG and Hofstra on November 17.
- Hana Muhl registered seven assists on the afternoon. This ties a career-high set twice: against Chicago State in 2022 with Ball State and against LIU on November 14.
- Tegan Young logged a career-high three steals against Merrimack. Her previous high was two completed on four different occasions.
- Leyla Ozturk set a new career-high in numerous categories with 21 points and 13 rebounds while converting 10-of-18 from the field, both new career highs in completions and attempts.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
Head Coach Heather Vulin on the performance: "Really pleased especially because Merrimack has been playing great and Kelly (Marrone) has done an outstanding job with them. It was a great way for us to get a home win but also get our record back to .500 in MAAC play."
Vulin on her players: "Overall, this group has been really fun to coach. Obviously, our strength is our quality and quantity. We basically have 7 or 8 starters and every night someone is having a career high."
NEXT UP:
Manhattan returns to action on Saturday, January 18, when the Jaspers trek northbound to face the Niagara Purple Knights (1-12, 0-5 MAAC) inside the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, NY. The contest tips off at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
