Box Score
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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Manhattan College women's basketball team (22-9) saw its dream of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship come to an end on Saturday morning with a 50-47 loss to Loyola (20-11) in the semifinals of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Basketball Championships from Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.
Trailing 50-47 with seven seconds remaining, Manhattan Head Coach John Olenowski called timeout to set up a final shot that would send the game to overtime. Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) got a good look from the top of the key, but her game-tying three was just off the mark and Loyola's Katie Sheahin grabbed the rebound to preserve the victory and send the Greyhounds into the MAAC Championship Game for the first time since 2006.
"As I watched it through the air it looked good," Roeder said about the final shot. "But unfortunately, it just came up short."
The game was back-and-forth throughout, as there were five ties and eight lead changes. Manhattan took an early 10-8 lead on a three-pointer by Roeder, but Loyola responded with an 8-2 rally to go up by six, 16-10, midway through the first half. After a Sheahin layup put the Greyhounds ahead 18-12 at the 8:17 mark, Manhattan went on a 10-0 run to take the lead. The Lady Jaspers went back in front, 19-18, on a Roeder layup, then increased that advantage to four points on a trey by Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine) with 2:08 left in the first half. Wentworth had 12 first-half points and Roeder had 10, as the Lady Jaspers led 22-19 at intermission.
The Greyhounds tied it at 22-22 on the first possession of the second half, and it would be knotted again at 25-25 and 28-28 early in the period. Loyola broke the 28-28 tie on a three-pointer by Meredith Tolley at the 15:50 mark, then Miriam McKenzie's fast-break layup made it a five-point game, 33-28. Loyola's lead eventually reached six points at 38-32 with 10:25 remaining.
After Erica DiClemente hit a jumper to put the Greyhounds in front 40-35 with 9:47 to play, a beautiful backdoor layup by Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) ignited a 12-4 Manhattan run that gave the Lady Jaspers a three-point lead. With Loyola leading 44-42 at the 3:08 mark, Wentworth threw up a deep trey in an attempt to beat the shot clock. The shot, which clearly left her hand in time, banked in off glass and, after initially calling it a two, the officials checked the video replay and confirmed it was a three-pointer.
"I knew it (the shot clock) was running down," Wentworth said. "I just wanted to get a shot up, and hopefully it would hit the rim and we'd get the rebound. But, I got lucky and it went in."
It looked like that shot might hold up as the play of the game, as Wentworth added a layup to make it 47-44 with 1:41 remaining. However, back-to-back buckets by McKenzie gave the Greyhounds a one-point, 48-47 edge with 38 seconds left. After Wentworth missed a jumper, the Lady Jaspers were forced to use their remaining fouls and send Loyola to the line. DiClemente then hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to make it a three-point game, and Roeder's game-tying attempt came up just short.
"It was a really hard-fought battle," Olenowski said. "Sometimes you're as proud of a team in defeat as you are in victory, and I told our team that. I told our team that they did everything they could to pull it out today. We just came up a little bit short."
Wentworth and Roeder combined for 39 of Manhattan's 47 points. Wentworth played all 40 minutes, notching 22 points, five rebounds, three assists and five steals. Roeder was on the floor for a career-high 38 minutes and tallied 17 points. Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) grabbed four rebounds and added three steals, while Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) also had four boards. The Lady Jaspers shot 40.4 percent (19-of-47) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from three-point range, and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) at the free throw line.
McKenzie finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists for Loyola, while Sheahin tallied 16 points and six boards. Sheahin, the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, also had three blocks and three steals. DiClemente posted nine points, four rebounds and four assists, and Tolley grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. The Greyhounds shot 45.2 percent (19-of-42) from the field and outrebounded the Lady Jaspers 30-22. Loyola shot 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from downtown and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) at the charity stripe.
Despite the loss, Manhattan's season might not be over. The Lady Jaspers may be selected to play in either the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) or the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). The participants in those two events will be selected on Monday, March 14 after the NCAA Tournament field is announced. If Loyola wins the MAAC championship and No. 18 Marist earns an at-large NCAA selection, Manhattan will receive the conference's automatic bid to the WNIT.
NOTES: Loyola beat Manhattan for the sixth straight time and improved to 24-22 all-time against the Lady Jaspers...Manhattan was knocked out of the MAAC Tournament by Loyola for the second time in three seasons, and fell to 1-3 all-time against the Greyhounds in the postseason...It marked the second time that the teams met in the MAAC semifinals...The Lady Jaspers made their first MAAC semifinal appearance since winning the championship in 2003...Wentworth had her sixth 20-point effort of the season, and her first since scoring 22 points at Niagara on Jan. 30...Manhattan used just seven players in the game, its fewest of the season...The contest was televised live on MSG.
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