Lady Jaspers Fall to Loyola In MAAC Opener, 78-65

Box Score 

RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? Loyola (5-2, 1-0 MAAC) opened the second half on a 20-6 run to pull away from Manhattan (2-6, 0-1 MAAC) in the Lady Jaspers' first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the season at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday evening.  The Greyhounds led 41-38 at halftime, but used the run to stretch their lead to 15 points and Manhattan was unable to mount a comeback.

“I thought we did a nice job offensively in the first half,” Head Coach Myndi Hill said.  “In the second half, we forced things too much, and the game got away from us when we started to turn the ball over.”

The Lady Jaspers hit their first three field goal attempts to build a 10-4 advantage barely two minutes into the game.  Loyola chipped away over the next several minutes and tied the game at 20-20 on Siobhan Prior's three-pointer at the 10:51 mark.  After Manhattan regained the lead on a layup by Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.), the Greyhounds scored the next seven points to open up a 27-22 lead.  Loyola's lead reached 10 when a layup by Candice Walker made it 41-31 with 2:38 left in the half, but Manhattan ended the period on a 7-0 run, capped by Kelly Regan's (Williamsville, N.Y.) layup as the half expired to cut the margin to three, 41-38, at intermission.  Loyola shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) in the half, but Manhattan committed just four turnovers in the frame to keep it close.

Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) scored the first basket of the second half to cut Loyola's lead to one, 41-40.  After a Loyola basket and a pair of Pacheco free throws at the 17:36 mark, the Greyhounds went on a 15-0 run over the next 5:05 to open up a 57-42 advantage.  Pacheco finally ended Manhattan's scoring drought with a layup at the 12:10 mark, and the Lady Jaspers pulled within nine when McIntyre drained a trey with 10:31 remaining.  Manhattan trimmed its deficit to six when McIntyre's jumper made it 65-59 with 6:16 left, but Loyola responded with a 10-2 to effectively put the game away.  The Greyhounds ran their lead back to 15 on Prior's layup with 20 seconds remaining, then Pacheco hit a layup to account for the final margin.

Regan finished with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds.  McIntyre poured in a career-high 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including 4-for-8 from three-point range.  McIntyre also recorded two assists and two steals.  Pacheco tallied 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals.  Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) distributed a team-best five assists.  The Lady Jaspers shot 32.9 percent (26-of-79) from the field, including 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from three-point land, and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) at the charity stripe.

Prior posted a game-high 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point range.  Ashley Alexander came off the bench for Loyola and contributed 15 points, as the Loyola bench outscored the Manhattan bench 26-7.  Kaitlin Grant recorded a double-double for the Greyhounds with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Meredith Tolley notched seven points, nine boards and two blocks.  The Greyhounds shot 60.4 percent (32-of-53) from the field for the game and outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 44-36.  Loyola shot 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from downtown and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) at the free throw line.

Manhattan concludes its four-game homestand against Saint Peter's (2-2, 0-0 MAAC) on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Draddy Gymnasium.  A live webcast will be available at www.gojaspers.com as part of the JasperVision platform.  The Lady Jaspers won both regular season meetings last season, but the Peahens notched a 68-65 victory in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Tournament.