Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College women's basketball team (10-20) saw its 2008-09 season come to an end with a 68-63 loss to Loyola (10-19) in the first round of the 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center on Thursday afternoon. Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) recorded a double-double in her MAAC Tournament debut, posting 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The eighth-seeded Lady Jaspers jumped in front quickly, opening up a 9-0 lead barely three minutes into the contest. Loyola responded with an 11-2 run to tie the score at 11-11 before Manhattan rallied for seven straight points to take an 18-11 advantage. Three successive baskets by Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) gave Manhattan its biggest lead of the game, a 27-16 edge with 9:53 left in the first half. After a three-pointer by Annie McIntyre (Portland, Ore.) put Manhattan in front 34-24 with 6:54 remaining before halftime, the Greyhounds ended the half on a 9-4 spurt to trim the Lady Jaspers' lead to five points, 38-33, at intermission.
Loyola cut Manhattan's lead to three points early in the second half before Loutsenhizer sank a three to increase the Lady Jaspers' advantage to six points, 43-37. The Greyhounds responded with the next eight points and took their first lead of the game when Meredith Tolley's three-pointer made it 45-43 with 13:40 remaining. The Lady Jaspers regained the lead on a McIntyre trey, then went up 50-47 after Pacheco made a pair of free throws at the 11:42 mark.
Manhattan went the next six minutes without scoring, and a Kaitlin Grant layup ignited a 10-0 Loyola run that gave the Greyhounds a 57-50 lead with 5:25 to play. Manhattan pulled within three points after a McIntyre trey and a Pacheco free throw made it 59-56 in favor of the Greyhounds, but Grant followed with a layup and a free throw to bring Loyola's lead back to six points, 62-56.
After an Ashley Alexander layup put Loyola in front 64-57 with 1:04 left, Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) nailed a trey to pull the Lady Jaspers within four points. Candice Walker hit a pair of free throws for the Greyhounds, then McIntyre drained a three to trim Manhattan's deficit to three points, 66-63, with 33 seconds left. Alexander went 1-for-2 at the line on the other end, then blocked McIntyre's three-point attempt with 18 seconds remaining. Meredith Tolley corralled the rebound for the Greyhounds and was fouled immediately. She made one of two free throws to seal the upset for ninth-seeded Loyola, 68-63.
McIntyre finished with a team-high 17 points and tied a career-high with four steals in her final collegiate game. Kelly Regan (Williamsville, N.Y.) tallied 11 points and seven rebounds in her final contest for the Lady Jaspers. Loutsenhizer tied a career-high with four steals to go along with her 15 points and team-high 10 boards. Pacheco contributed 11 points off the bench. The Lady Jaspers shot 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the field, 30 percent (9-of-30) from three-point range, and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) at the charity stripe.
Grant went 10-for-11 from the field and finished with a game-high 24 points. She added 11 rebounds, as the Greyhounds outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 35-31. Siobhan Prior tallied 18 points, while Tolley registered 14 points and seven rebounds. Alexander posted eight points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Walker distributed a game-high five assists. As a team, Loyola shot 46.4 percent (26-of-56) from the field, including 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from downtown, and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) at the charity stripe.
Loyola advanced to face top-seeded Marist (26-3) in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.
NOTES: Loyola won two of the three meetings between the teams this season...The Lady Jaspers lead the all-time series 22-19...Manhattan fell to 1-2 all-time against Loyola in the MAAC Tournament and 10-11 in postseason games played in Albany...The Lady Jaspers lost in the first round of the MAAC Tournament for the first time in program history, falling to 7-1 all-time in first round games...Manhattan was seeded eighth for the fourth time in the last six seasons...Regan finished her career with 1,103 points, which ranks 14th in Manhattan history, and 533 rebounds, the 12th highest total in school history...McIntyre sank five three-pointers in the game to end her Manhattan career with 98 treys, good enough for sixth all-time in school history...Herrington finished the season with 73 three-pointers, one shy of Gabrielle Cottrell's single-season school record...Six Lady Jaspers?McIntyre, Regan, Nicole Harrison (Falls Church, Va.) Alicia Marculitis (Worcester, Mass.), Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) and Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine)?were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team.
