Manhattan Suffers 45-41 Setback Against Loyola

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Needing a win to secure at least the No. 4 seed in next weekend's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships, the Manhattan College women's basketball team (14-14, 9-8 MAAC) ended up on the short side of a 45-41 score in a defensive battle with Loyola (13-15, 8-9 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday evening.  The loss drops the Lady Jaspers into a tie for fourth place with one game remaining in the regular season.

The contest was tight throughout, as neither team was able to build a lead of more than six points the entire game.  After Devon Carey hit a three-pointer midway to give the Greyhounds a 13-9 lead midway through the first half, Manhattan got buckets from Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) and Michelle Pacheco (Bronx, N.Y.) to tie it at 13-13 with 7:40 remaining in the period. 

Loyola responded with an 8-2 run to take a 21-15 advantage before a Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) trey sparked a 6-0 Manhattan run over the final 1:29 of the half to give the Lady Jaspers a 22-21 lead at intermission.

A Kerri White (Flushing, N.Y.) layup and a Loutsenhizer three-pointer extended the Lady Jaspers' lead to six, 27-21, with 18:22 remaining in the game, but Loyola scored the next five points to again make it a one-point game, 27-26, with 16:50 left.  Manhattan pushed its lead back to five, but the Greyhounds again countered, tying the score at 36-36 at the 4:25 mark. 

The Lady Jaspers went back in front on a pair of Wentworth free throws with 4:00 remaining, then Katie Sheahin drained a three on the other end to give the Greyhounds a 39-38 edge.  Manhattan knotted the score once more when Wentworth went 1-for-2 at the line with 3:11 left before Meredith Tolley sank a pair of free throws to give the lead back to Loyola, 41-39, with 1:16 to go. 

After a steal, Sheahin nailed a deep trey to push the Greyhounds' lead to five, 44-39, at the 39-second mark.  Loutsenhizer drove in for a layup to make it a one-possession game with 18 seconds left, but Manhattan was forced to foul to stop the clock, and Sheahin went 1-for-2 at the line to cap a 45-41 Loyola victory.

Loutsenhizer finished just shy of a double-double, putting up a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds.  Pacheco added eight points, five rebounds and four assists, and Wentworth notched eight points, five boards and three steals.  Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) pulled down eight rebounds for the Lady Jaspers.  Manhattan shot 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from downtown.

Sheahin paced Loyola with 14 points.  She added seven rebounds, three assists and four steals.  Miriam McKenzie ended up one rebound shy of a double-double, tallying 11 points and nine boards.  Four other Greyhounds had at least seven rebounds, as Loyola outrebounded Manhattan 44-35.  Kaitlin Grant notched seven points to go along with eight rebounds and three steals.  The Greyhounds shot 25.5 percent (13-of-51) from the field and 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from three-point range.

Loyola shot 66.7 percent (12-of-18) at the charity stripe and outscored the Lady Jaspers 12-3 at the line.  Manhattan made 75 percent (3-of-4) of its foul shots.

"Free throw shooting was huge," Head Coach John Olenowski said.  "That's normally what we rely on, but unfortunately it didn't happen (for us) tonight.  That disparity really made a difference."

The Lady Jaspers now face a must-win situation in their regular season finale against first-place Marist (22-6, 14-2 MAAC) at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Draddy Gymnasium.  Manhattan will secure either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament with a victory, but could fall to fifth or sixth with a loss.  It will be Senior Day, and Pacheco will be honored prior to the contest.