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BALTIMORE - One streak had to come to an end for the Manhattan College women's basketball team on Wednesday night. Either the Jaspers would top Loyola for the first time in seven tries or Manhattan would see its five-game winning streak snapped. Fortunately, it was the latter streak that was extended, as the Jaspers (8-6, 2-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) topped the Greyhounds (4-9, 0-2 MAAC) at Reitz Arena.
With the score knotted at 4-4, Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) hit a jumper that ignited a 9-0 Manhattan run, giving the Jaspers a 13-4 advantage eight minutes into the game. Loyola trimmed its deficit to three at 15-12 with 9:19 left in the first half, but the Jaspers responded with six straight points to again make it a nine-point game, 21-12. However, the Greyhounds got three-pointers from Katie Sheahin and Alyssa Sutherland, then a layup by Miriam McKenzie brought Loyola within one, 21-20, at the 2:25 mark.
Loutsenhizer drained a trey on the next Manhattan possession, then after a Loyola miss, Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) sank a layup and Halfkenny buried a three-ball to bring the lead back to eight points, 29-21. Sheahin hit a three as time expired to make it a five-point game, 29-24, at the break.
After a McKenzie trey cut Loyola's deficit to four with 19:18 remaining in the contest, the Jaspers held the Greyhounds without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. Manhattan outscored Loyola 8-2 during that span to extend its lead to 39-29. McKenzie hit a jumper to end Loyola's scoring drought and bring the Greyhounds within eight, but the margin wouldn't be in single-digits again.
A conventional three-point play by Peters at the 9:26 mark started a 15-7 Manhattan rally that extended the Jaspers' advantage to a game-high 18 points, 56-38, with 2:47 to go. After a pair of Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) free throws made it 59-41 with 1:52 left, Loyola scored five of the final seven points. With the 61-46 victory, the Jaspers extended their winning streak to six in a row.
"This was a great all-around effort, both offensively and defensively," said Head Coach John Olenowski, who beat Loyola for the first time. "The defense did a great job causing turnovers and forcing Loyola to shoot from further out than they're comfortable.
"We also had some great individual performances," Olenowski added. "Nadia came up big with a double-double and three steals; Lindsey and Schyanne contributed with their scoring; and Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) ran the offense very smoothly while also getting some key rebounds."
Peters tallied 13 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, while Loutsenhizer finished with a team-high 16 points and Halfkenny added 12 points. Skrec registered seven points and tied a career-high with seven assists. As a team, Manhattan shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field, 25 percent (3-of-12) from three-point land, and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) at the charity stripe.
Sheahin had a double-double for the Greyhounds, posting 16 points and 10 rebounds. She also notched five assists, four steals and three blocks. Sutherland added 10 points and seven boards, while McKenzie finished with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Loyola outrebounded Manhattan 41-31, but also committed 21 turnovers. The Greyhounds shot 25 percent (14-of-56) overall, including 24.3 percent (9-of-37) from downtown. Loyola went 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) at the free throw line.
"This was a huge win heading into a tough two-game stretch against Fairfield and Marist," Olenowski said.
Manhattan's next two contests are against the other two teams that are 2-0 in conference play-Fairfield and Marist. The Jaspers host the Stags (9-4, 2-0 MAAC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday before visiting the Red Foxes (7-6, 2-0 MAAC) at 7 p.m. on Monday.
NOTES: It was the Jaspers' first road game since they visited New Hampshire on Dec. 9...Olenowski has now beaten every team in the MAAC at least once...Manhattan beat Loyola for the first time since a 60-54 win on Feb. 15, 2009, and improved to 23-24 all-time against the Greyhounds...Manhattan started MAAC play 2-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season...The Jaspers committed just 11 turnovers in the game, matching their season-low...Manhattan didn't trail in the game, marking the third time this season that's happened...Peters recorded her first double-double since she had 13 points and 11 rebounds at Canisius on Jan. 28, 2011...Skrec also had seven assists in the win over Sacred Heart on Dec. 30...Loutsenhizer moved past Tiffany Schettig and Cari-Lynn Piotrowski into ninth place on Manhattan's all-time scoring list with 1,188 career points...Maryland became the seventh different state in which the Jaspers have played a game this season.
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