Box Score
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DAYTON, Ohio - Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) and Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) combined for 45 points to lead the Manhattan College women's basketball team (24-9) to a thrilling 75-73 victory over Wright State (20-13) at the Nutter Center on Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). Loutsenhizer tied a career-high with 24 points, and she added 13 rebounds to complete a double-double, while Roeder also matched her career-high with 21 points.
Manhattan won the opening tip and took an early lead on Loutsenhizer's trey 20 seconds into the contest, but five of Wright State's first six field goals were three-pointers, helping the Raiders build a 20-11 advantage at the 11:46 mark. A Loutsenhizer layup midway through the period started a 7-2 Manhattan run that brought the Lady Jaspers back within four at 25-21. However, Wright State responded with a 9-3 spurt to push its lead to 10 points, 34-24, with 2:25 left before halftime.
Roeder drained a pair of free throws on the ensuing Manhattan possession, then added a layup to cut the margin to six points, 34-28, with 37 seconds remaining. A Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) steal gave the ball back to the Lady Jaspers with 15 seconds left, and Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) hit a pair of foul shots just before the half ended to make it a four-point game, 34-30, at intermission.
The Lady Jaspers carried that momentum into the second half, getting a rebound and putback from Loutsenhizer 20 seconds into the period that cut the deficit to two, 34-32. Wright State brought its lead back to eight at 44-36 before a Loutsenhizer jumper ignited a 16-4 Manhattan rally over the next 3:17 that gave the Lady Jaspers a 52-46 lead. The run included four three-pointers, including back-to-back-to-back long balls from Roeder, Wentworth and Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.), the last of which put Manhattan in front for the first time, 47-46.
Trailing 61-54 with 7:51 left, Wright State scored the next seven points to tie the game. A Roeder trey put Manhattan back in front, 64-61, before the Raiders recorded five straight points to regain the lead. The score would be tied three more times until the 2:33 mark, when Peters hit a pair of free throws to give the Lady Jaspers a lead they wouldn't relinquish. After the Raiders missed a pair of treys, Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) hit one for Manhattan to increase the lead to four points, 73-69, with 1:45 remaining.
After Shaunda Sandifer nailed a jumper to pull Wright State back within two at 75-73, Manhattan called timeout with 21 seconds remaining. The Lady Jaspers ran the shot clock all the way down before a Roeder jumper with 13 seconds left was off the mark. Wright State grabbed the rebound and went for the win, but Maria Bennett's three-point attempt was well short. Sandifer pulled down the rebound and started falling out of bounds, but called timeout first with 1.3 seconds remaining. The officials checked the video to confirm the time remaining, but left the clock at 1.3 seconds. Manhattan called a timeout to set its defense, and the Raiders never even got a shot off, as KC Elkins turned the ball over on the inbounds pass. With the 73-71 victory, Manhattan moved into the WBI semifinals.
Along with Loutsenhizer and Roeder, Wentworth reached double-figures in the scoring column. Wentworth notched 10 points and distributed seven assists. Blair tallied nine points and three assists off the bench, while Peters posted five boards and three steals to go along with a career-high six assists. The Lady Jaspers shot 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the field, 36.4 percent (12-of-33) from downtown, and a perfect 100 percent (9-of-9) at the free throw line.
LaShawna Thomas and Sandifer both notched double-doubles for the Raiders. Thomas finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Sandifer had 13 points and 11 boards. Thomas also handed out five assists. Bennett and Ta-myra Davis each added 12 points. Wright State shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field and outrebounded Manhattan 39-31. The Raiders shot 40 percent (8-of-20) from three-point range and 68.4 percent (13-of-19) at the charity stripe.
In the other East Region quarterfinal game, UAB posted a 59-50 victory over Elon, meaning the Lady Jaspers will face the Blazers (18-15) for the right to move on to the championship game. The semifinal matchup will be at Draddy Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
NOTES: It was the first all-time meeting between the schools, as well as Manhattan's first-ever game in the State of Ohio...The last time two different Manhattan players scored 20 points in the same game, Michelle Pacheco had 22 points and Loutsenhizer added 21 against Saint Peter's on Jan. 29, 2010...Manhattan didn't miss a free throw for the second consecutive game...The Lady Jaspers had their highest scoring output of the season and tied a season-best with 12 three-pointers...Manhattan won when allowing 70 or more points for the first time since a 78-71 triumph over Canisius on Feb. 21, 2010...The Lady Jaspers had more assists than turnovers for the 12th time this season and improved to 11-1 in those games.
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