EMMITSBURG, M.D. — Manhattan took no prisoners over the final 20 minutes of action at Knott Arena, outscoring Mount St. Mary's by 32 points en route to a resounding 75-47 victory. Manhattan's dominance gives the Jaspers their second straight win of 28 points or more as Manhattan picks up its second MAAC win in five tries.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Both teams came out of the gate hot trading baskets in a first quarter that featured 13 lead changes. After one, the Mountaineers led 23-22 following back-to-back baskets from Nyodie Guerard and Jo Raflo to close the first period.
-Manhattan's first points of the second quarter came on a three-pointer from Hana Muhl at the 7:47 mark, which responded to the Mount opening eight points of the quarter on two threes.
-After missing 7 of its first 8 shots of the second quarter, Manhattan reeled off four straight points on a pair of free throws from Tegan Young and an easy finish for Leyla Ozturk on an assist from Ines Gimenez Monserrat in transition.
-Nitzan Amar's third three across the first two periods cut the Jaspers deficit to 36-32 at halftime.
-Manhattan came out in the third quarter on a mission. The Jaspers responded to a jumper from Raflo with an 11-0 run to take a five-point lead with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
-The Jaspers last six scoring possessions of the third quarter came from a different player, as the Manhattan offense hummed its way to 23 points while only giving up five on the other end.
-The Jaspers closed on a 12-1 run to secure a 55-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
-In the fourth quarter, the Jaspers offense stayed hot with three more threes—two from Gimenez Monserrat and one from Young—en route to the 28-point margin of victory.
STATS AND NOTES
-Manhattan shot 50.9 percent (27-53) from the field one game after shooting 53.7 percent (29-54) in the 41-point win over Rider last Saturday.
-Manhattan yielded five points in the third quarter which is the lowest amount scored by an opponent in a quarter this season.
-The Jaspers defense only gave up 11 points over the final 20 minutes — the best 20-minute stretch from the defense all season.
-After scoring 11 points in the first quarter, Mount's Anna LeMaster was held to three points the rest of the way.
-Manhattan was bolstered by four double-digit scorers, in Gimenez Monserrat (16 points), Young (12 points), Ozturk (12 points) and Amar (11).
-Gimenez Monserrat's notched a career-high seven assists. The senior guard from Spain tallied her seventh helper at the 9:25 mark of the third quarter on a basket by Ozturk.
-Amar also notched seven assists, sitting top 50 nationally with 5.3 assists per game.
QUOTES FROM MANHATTAN
Head coach Heather Vulin on the defense changing the game after the Mount hit eight threes over the first 20 minutes: "Our goal was to make sure they had to score from somewhere else, so I thought we did a really good job closing out on them and limiting open threes. I just thought defensively we were more locked in and we kept that intensity for that last 20 minutes of the game."
Vulin on Gimenez Monserrat's big night: "Everyone knows that Ines can shoot the basketball. She's very skilled, obviously she's not shooting at that mark she was last year, but if you look at the last few games she's getting going…her big thing this year was to be known as more than a shooter. She's third on our team in assists."
NEXT TIME OUT
Manhattan will host Merrimack (7-8, 3-1 MAAC) on Saturday at 2 PM for Alumni Day. The game will air live on ESPN+.
The Warriors picked up a 64-53 win at home over Sacred Heart on Thursday night.
Follow Manhattan women's basketball on X (@Manhattan_WBB) and Instagram (@manhattanwbb).
