RIVERDALE, N.Y. - On Saturday afternoon at Draddy Gymnasium, the Manhattan College women's basketball team suffered a 60-52 loss to Holy Cross (4-3). It was the fourth straight loss for the Jaspers (1-5).
After Holy Cross scored the first four points of the game, Manhattan countered with some hot three-point shooting. Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) sank three treys in the first 7:30 of the game, and her third triple of the half tied it at 13-13. The Crusaders responded with a pair of layups to again go up by four, 17-13, before a three-pointer by Nicole Isaacs (Fair Haven, N.J.) brought the Jaspers back within one. However, after the sides traded treys, Holy Cross went on an 8-0 run to open up a nine-point advantage, 28-19, with 6:32 remaining before halftime.
A three-pointer by Alex Smith gave Holy Cross a 34-26 cushion at the 3:20 mark, but the Jaspers would hold the Crusaders without a field goal for the rest of the half. Shayna Ericksen (Hackettstown, N.J.) hit a layup to cut the deficit to six, then, after a Holy Cross free throw, Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) sank a jumper to pull Manhattan within five, 35-30, at intermission.
Ericksen started the second half with a layup, then a Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) bucket made it a one-point game, 35-34, with 18:50 to go. The Crusaders scored the next four points to bring the margin back to five before another Lawrence layup trimmed the Jaspers' deficit to three, 39-36, at the 17:04 mark. However, Holy Cross responded with a 13-4 run over the next 8:27 to increase its advantage to 12 points, 52-40.
The Crusaders' cushion reached a game-high 14 points at 58-44 with 2:25 left before the Jaspers began to chip away. Manhattan didn't allow a field goal the rest of the way, giving up just two points on a pair of free throws, and ended the game by scoring eight of the final 10 points. Blair's fourth trey of the contest capped the scoring, as the Jaspers fell by a 60-52 count.
Blair paced the Jaspers with 12 points on four three-pointers. She also grabbed a career-high six rebounds and handed out two assists. Ericksen reached double-figures for the fourth straight game with 10 points, while Isaacs contributed nine points on three treys and Lawrence tallied eight points, all in the second half. Manhattan shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field and 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from three-point range, but was held to just 11.1 percent (1-of-9) shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. The Jaspers went 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) at the free throw line.
Smith posted a team-high 13 points and also dished out four assists for the Crusaders. Raquel Scott had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards, as Holy Cross outrebounded Manhattan 40-29. Emily Parker contributed nine points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Brisje Malone chipped in with eight points and three assists. Holy Cross shot 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from the field, including 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from downtown, and 70 percent (14-of-20) at the charity stripe.
Manhattan continues its three-game homestand on Tuesday night, when Army (7-1) visits Draddy Gymnasium at 7 p.m. It will be "Wear Red Night" to promote the American Heart Association's "Go Red For Women" initiative. All fans are encouraged to the game dressed in red.
NOTES: The contest was a rematch of the 2012 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) quarterfinal game won by Manhattan, 78-63...Holy Cross leads the all-time series 11-8...It was the first meeting between the teams in Riverdale since Jan. 11, 1990, when Holy Cross was still a member of the MAAC...The Jaspers hosted a team they beat in the previous season's WBI for the second straight year...Skrec made her season debut and recorded six points in 19 minutes off the bench...Blair's previous career-high was five rebounds at Canisius on Jan. 28, 2011...Manhattan has lost four straight for the first time since dropping five in a row from Jan. 18-Feb. 1, 2009...At halftime, there was a special ceremony recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Manhattan track & field program.