RIVERDALE, NY– The Manhattan Jaspers women's basketball team (6-6, 0-3 MAAC) fell to the Siena Saints (6-6, 3-0 MAAC) in a thriller by a score of 62-60 on Thursday evening inside Draddy Gymnasium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Jaspers began the contest with a 10-2 deficit, with the Saints converting half of their attempts. Three boards from sophomore Kristina Juric highlighted the first five minutes.
- Manhattan responded with a run of its own led by junior Brianna Davis, with six points highlighted by converting four-of-five from the charity stripe in the first stanza.
- Leading the charge to open the second quarter was Juric, who found Leyla Ozturk on a driving layup to extend its run to seven.
- Claudia Jimenez was a massive spark off the bench, where she found the oft-mentioned Juric on a slanted pass while being double-teamed.
- The Jaspers' shooting continued to improve as the contest went on, with Manhattan converting five triples in eight tries. Entering tonight, Vulin's squad was averaging six per game.
- Later in the fourth quarter, Davis, who continued to pace the offense, drew a foul on a layup to put Manhattan in front throughout the sea-saw-type contest.
STATS AND NOTES
- Sophomore forward Kristina Juric grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Her previous career high was five, set most recently at Marist on December 21 in Poughkeepsie. Additionally, Juric set a career-high tonight with three blocks.
- Junior guard Brianna Davis scored 22 points on seven-of-11 shooting, a Division I and Jasper-tenure high. For the first time during her Division I tenure, the Queens College transfer has logged double-digit points in back-to-back games.
- Sophomore guard Tegan Young converted three of seven from downtown with one free-throw registered in 29 minutes on the floor.
- Graduate guard Ines Gimenez-Monserrat scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, and registered a pair of steals in 29 minutes of play.
- Manhattan dominated the bench-point margin 24-9 with a +13 advantage over Siena. 22, came from the aforementioned Davis.
- The Jaspers grabbed 39 rebounds compared to the Saints' 38 on the night.
- Manhattan logged 18 assists on 21 made field-goals (85.7%). It was the best conversion through the first 12 games of the season. And the best since the 2024 MAAC Tournament against Canisius, when the Jaspers logged 17 assists on 19 made field-goals (89.4%).
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
Head Coach Heather Vulin on the teams' performance, "I was really proud of our team's effort. Obviously, we were down a couple of starters. But, fortunately, the way we play, we usually have seven. So, I thought Kristina (Juric), and Tegan (Young), really came in and did great things. Then, Brianna (Davis) was sensational off the bench."
"We just have to keep trying to be the toughest team out there and keep going in the right direction."
"I'm really proud that our girls did a really good job in terms of contesting shots."
Vulin on the performance of Davis: "She's really explosive. We call her "Bree Buckets".
NEXT UP:
Manhattan returns to conference play on Saturday, January 4, when the Jaspers welcome the Broncs of Rider University to Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. start. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.