Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After trailing by 13 points at halftime and 16 early in the second half, the Manhattan College women's basketball team (1-6) fought nearly all the way back, pulling within three late, before running out of time in a 54-49 loss to Army (8-1) at Draddy Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
"It was the tale of two halves," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "In the first half, we were very lethargic on the offensive end. In the second half, we came out with great defensive pressure, and that's what got us back in the game."
Manhattan scored the first five points of the game and opened up a 9-4 lead barely three minutes in. However, after a steal and coast-to-coast layup by Blake Underhill (Ashland, Mass.) put the Jaspers up 12-9 at the 14:29 mark, Manhattan would go more than eight minutes without scoring. The Black Knights went on a 10-0 run during that span to build a 19-12 advantage. Shayna Ericksen (Hackettstown, N.J.) followed her own miss and put in a layup with 6:02 remaining in the half to finally end the scoring drought, but Army immediately countered with a 12-4 rally to end the period, and the Black Knights went into the locker room leading 31-18.
Jen Hazlett sank a trey on the opening possession of the second half to push Army's cushion to a game-high 16 points, 34-18, and the Black Knights led 36-20 before the Manhattan comeback began in earnest on a Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) layup. That bucket started a 9-2 Jaspers run that cut the deficit to nine points, 38-29, with 13:37 to go.
Army scored six of the next eight points to bring the margin back to 13 at 44-31, but Manhattan immediately countered with a 5-0 run of its own to pull within eight, 44-36. Hazlett drained a three-pointer on the ensuing Army possession to again make it an 11-point game, 47-36. That would be Army's last basket of the game, as the Black Knights were held without a field goal over the final 8:43.
With Army leading 47-38 at the 5:44 mark, the Black Knights' Olivia Schretzman was whistled for a technical foul. Roeder hit both free throws, then added a layup to trim the deficit to five, 47-42, with 4:48 left to play. However, Army responded with a 5-2 run, scoring all of its points at the free throw line during the rally, to increase its lead to eight, 52-44, with 2:49 remaining.
After Toni-Ann Lawrence's (Elmont, N.Y.) three-point play with 2:38 left again made it a five-point game, 52-47, neither team scored for two and a half minutes. Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) sank a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to bring Manhattan within one possession, but the Jaspers were forced to foul, and Kelsey Minato hit a pair at the line for Army to account for the final 54-49 margin.
"When you get behind against a really good team like this, it's hard to come back," Olenowski said. "I was very proud of the team in the second half. I thought they gave it the effort that they needed to beat a team like that."
Ericksen had her second double-double of the season to lead the Jaspers. She finished with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with a career-high three blocks. Roeder added 11 points, while Lawrence pulled down eight rebounds and handed out three assists. The Jaspers shot 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the field, but went just 1-for-15 (6.7 percent) from three-point land, missing their last 14 three-point attempts. Manhattan shot 58.8 percent (10-of-17) at the free throw line.
Simmers notched a game-high 21 points for the Black Knights. Hazlett contributed 10 points and four assists, while Schretzman posted seven points and 11 rebounds. Army shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46) from the field and outrebounded Manhattan 40-33. The Black Knights shot 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from long range and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) at the charity stripe.
Manhattan looks to snap its five-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, when Oakland (5-2) visits Draddy Gymnasium at 2 p.m. It will be the first all-time meeting between the Jaspers and Golden Grizzlies, who beat Canisius and lost to Niagara earlier this season.
NOTES: The Jaspers and Black Knights met for the fifth consecutive season, with Army winning for the second straight year...Manhattan leads the all-time series 8-6...The Jaspers have dropped five in a row for the first time since Jan. 18-Feb. 1, 2009, and are on their first three-game home losing streak since Jan. 9-23, 2009...Manhattan used its fourth different starting lineup of the season, with Skrec getting the start at point guard...Skrec recorded her first career block in the game...Ericksen also had a double-double (12 pts, 11 reb) against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 25...The Jaspers' previous season-low for three-pointers in a game was three at Cornell on Nov. 20...Manhattan committed just two turnovers in the second half...It was "Wear Red" Night at Draddy Gymnasium in support of the American Heart Association's "Go Red For Women" campaign.
