Box Score
Click here to view the 2010-11 Manhattan Women's Basketball Media Guide
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - When the calendar flips to January, it's not just a new year, it's the start of a new season. For the Manhattan College women's basketball team, that new season got underway on Sunday afternoon when it hosted Loyola to open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. Unfortunately, despite playing a familiar opponent, the result wasn't the one Manhattan has become familiar with, as the Lady Jaspers (8-4, 0-1 MAAC) saw their three-game winning streak halted with a 78-61 loss to the Greyhounds (4-8, 1-0 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium.
The back-and-forth first half featured five ties and 11 lead changes. After a trey by Miriam McKenzie gave Loyola a 13-11 lead, the Lady Jaspers responded with an 11-0 run, pulling out to a 22-13 advantage on a three-pointer by Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) midway through the period. However, the Greyhounds countered that rally with a 12-0 rally of their own, going back in front 25-22 on Meredith Tolley's layup at the 4:19 mark.
Manhattan tied it on an Alyssa Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.) three ball, then took the lead, 27-25, when Herrington sank a pair of free throws with 3:33 left in the half. Loyola went back in front, 35-31, late in the half before a Roeder layup and two free throws by Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) pulled the Lady Jaspers even at 35-35 at the break.
The sides traded three-pointers early in the second half before Loyola used a 7-1 run to turn a 43-43 deadlock into a 50-44 advantage. The Lady Jaspers got back within two after buckets by Roeder and Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) before a three-pointer by McKenzie on the other end pushed Loyola's lead back to five, 53-48, with 6:41 remaining. After Manhattan cut its deficit to three on a Blair trey, Nicole Krusen hit her second of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Greyhounds a six-point lead once again, 59-53, at the 4:41 mark. The Lady Jaspers would get no closer than five the rest of the way, as Loyola outscored Manhattan 19-8 down the stretch to secure the 78-61 victory.
"In the first half, I thought we ran the offense pretty well. I thought we executed nicely, especially getting the ball inside," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "But as we got down in the second half, we got out of rhythm and were forced to take shots that we normally don't take just to come back."
Blair and Herrington each tallied 13 points to lead the Lady Jaspers. Roeder added nine points, while Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) registered nine points, seven rebounds and three steals. Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) finished with seven points and tied a career-high with seven steals, and Loutsenhizer notched six points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench. As a team, Manhattan shot 33.9 percent (21-of-62) from the field, 25 percent (6-of-24) from downtown, and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) at the free throw line.
Katie Sheahin had a double-double for Loyola with 19 points and 10 assists. She also tallied seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Tolley finished with 16 points and five boards, while McKenzie had 14 points. Erica DiClemente contributed 13 points and five rebounds, and Krusen notched 12 points off the bench. Alyssa Sutherland pulled down a game-high eight rebounds, as the Greyhounds outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 34-32. Loyola scored more than half of its points from beyond the arc, going 15-for-27 (55.6 percent) from long range. The Greyhounds shot 53.5 percent (23-of-43) overall from the field and 81 percent (17-of-21) at the charity stripe.
Manhattan continues its four-game homestand on Tuesday, when Siena (3-8, 1-0 MAAC) comes to Riverdale for an 11:30 a.m. Kid's Day matchup.
NOTES: It was Loyola's fourth straight victory over Manhattan, and the Greyhounds evened the all-time series at 22-22...Manhattan fell to Loyola in its MAAC opener for the second time in three seasons...Manhattan is now 7-23 all-time in its first game of MAAC play...The Lady Jaspers haven't beaten the Greyhounds at home since the 2004-05 season...Manhattan surrendered more than 50 points for the first time since a 53-50 loss to Lafayette on Dec. 9, and gave up more than 60 for just the second time this season...Wentworth previously had seven steals in an 83-67 victory over Elon on Dec. 1, 2009...As a team, the Lady Jaspers collected 13 steals for the fourth time this season.
To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.
