Lady Jaspers Welcome Albany for Home Opener

Manhattan-Albany Game Notes

TONIGHT'S GAME
After opening the season with a pair of road contests, Manhattan (1-1) begins its home schedule tonight against Albany (2-0).  The Lady Jaspers won their season opener, 63-34, at St. Francis (NY) last Friday before dropping a 77-51 decision at No. 20/23 St. John's on Tuesday night.  The Great Danes also defeated St. Francis (NY), 49-43, after opening the season with a 64-54 win over Brown.  Tonight's contest is the first of a four-game homestand for the Lady Jaspers.

THE LADY JASPERS
After starting the season with a pair of road games, Manhattan (1-1) plays its 2010-11 home opener tonight.  The Lady Jaspers posted a 63-34 victory at St. Francis (NY) in their season opener last Friday, then suffered a 77-51 defeat at the hands of No. 20/23 St. John's on Tuesday night.  Freshman guard/forward Monica Roeder, the current MAAC Player of the Week, leads the Lady Jaspers in scoring, averaging 11.5 points per game.  Junior forward Lindsey Loutsenhizer averages 11.0 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per game, while senior guard Abby Wentworth adds 10.0 points, 5.5 boards and 4.5 assists per contest.  Junior guard/forward Schyanne Halfkenny contributes 9.5 points per game, and junior forward Nadia Peters is averaging 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per outing.  Tonight's contest is the start of a four-game homestand for the Lady Jaspers.

THE GREAT DANES
Albany (2-0) opened the season with two straight seasons for the first time since 1999-2000, the Great Danes' first season at the Division I level.  The Great Danes knocked off Brown, 64-54, before posting a 49-43 win at St. Francis (NY).  Sophomore guard/forward Ebone Henry was named America East Player of the Week after notching 23 points and 15 rebounds in Albany's season-opening win over Brown.  She currently leads the Great Danes in scoring (19.5 ppg) and ranks second on the team in rebounding (12.5 rpg).  Henry also paces Albany with 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  Sophomore forward Julie Forster is also averaging double-double.  She has tallied 15.5 points and a team-high 14.0 rebounds while shooting .625 from the field in the first two games.  Henry and Forster were both named to last season's America East All-Rookie Team.  Albany was picked to finsih seventh in the America East Preseason Coacehs' Poll.

SERIES HISTORY
Tonight's game is just the second all-time meeting between Manhattan and Albany.  The Lady Jaspers won the only previous matchup, 74-56, on Nov. 30, 1999, which was the Great Danes' first season of Division I play.  Manhattan is 12-11 all-time against schools that are currently members of the America East Conference and has won two of its last three home openers.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME
On Tuesday night, the Lady Jaspers ran into a good team having a good night.  No. 20/23 St. John's scored the first eight points of the game and led 40-19 at halftime.  The Red Storm extended their lead to 52-26 early in the second half before a Schyanne Halfkenny trey brought Manhattan back within 56-35 with 11:47 remaining.  However, St. John's proved just too strong in the end, and the Red Storm posted a 77-51 victory at Carnesecca Arena.  Abby Wentworth led the Lady Jaspers with 14 points, and she added four points, four rebounds and four steals.  Lindsey Loutsenhizer contributed 11 points and a team-high six boards, while Alyssa Herrington chipped in nine points off the bench.  Shennika Smith had a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds to lead St. John's.

LADY JASPERS LIVE ON THE WEB
Once again this season, every home Manhattan women's basketball game will be webcast live at www.gojaspers.com as a part of the JasperVision package.  Individual games can be purchased for $5.95, while a season package, which also features 12 men's games, is available for a cost of $39.95.  In addition, a live audio broadcast of every home game, as well as select road games, will be available free of charge at www.gojaspers.com with Dylan Horowitz calling the play-by-play.