Box Score
2012-13 Manhattan Women's Basketball Yearbook
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - A key defensive stop and a pair of clutch free throws by Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) in the final seconds propelled the Manhattan College women's basketball team (6-15, 3-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) to a 54-51 victory over Canisius (8-13, 5-5 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
Manhattan held a 52-51 lead when Allison Skrec's (Roselle, N.J.) three-point attempt with 28 seconds left was off the mark. The Griffs' Allison Braun grabbed the rebound, and Canisius held for one shot. However, Lawrence came up with a steal and was immediately fouled with five seconds remaining. She calmly sank both free throws, giving the Jaspers a three-point advantage, 54-51. Now needing a three to tie, Canisius was unable to get a shot off, securing the victory for Manhattan and ending the Jaspers' four-game losing streak.
"I thought she (Toni) did a great job under tough conditions," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "She really stepped up and made some big plays at the end."
"Over the season, our defense has definitely gotten a lot better," Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) said. "Now we're starting to see results at the end of the game, which is good."
The Jaspers stormed out of the gate, scoring the first seven points of the game and opening up a 15-2 advantage on a Roeder three-pointer with 14:12 left in the first half. However, Canisius responded with a 14-4 rally, pulling within three, 19-16, on Jen Morabito's trey with 7:43 remaining before halftime. After Manhattan brought the lead back to seven on a pair of Roeder free throws and a Shayna Ericksen (Hackettstown, N.J.) jumper, the Griffs countered with a 5-0 spurt to make it a two-point game, 23-21, at the 1:35 mark.
Roeder answered with a trey on the other end, but Jamie Ruttle followed with a layup for Canisius. After a Lawrence layup put Manhattan up 28-23 with 28 seconds left in the half, Tiahana Mills drove for a layup as time expired to cut the Jaspers' advantage to three, 28-25, at intermission.
"They (Canisius) are a good defensive team, so I knew we weren't going to be able to keep that kind of offense going," Olenowski said. "We got some easy buckets, and that really helped us. It took the pressure off our offensive players."
The sides traded baskets early in the second half before consecutive buckets by Ruttle gave Canisius its first lead, 33-32, with 16:19 to go. Manhattan immediately went back in front on a three-pointer by Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.), then Roeder added a trey to increase the margin to five points, 38-33, with 14:54 remaining.
After Skrec drained a trey to make it 41-35 at the 13:36 mark, Canisius rallied for nine of the next 11 points to regain the lead, 44-43. Manhattan again responded immediately, though, getting a layup from Stec and a Lawrence jumper to go back in front by three, 47-44.
Roeder drained her fifth three-pointer of the contest to give the Jaspers a 50-46 advantage with 5:49 to play, but the Griffs scored the next five points to regain the lead, 51-50, with 1:47 left. Skrec was fouled while driving to the basket on the ensuing Manhattan possession, and her two free throws reestablished a one-point advantage for the Jaspers, 52-51, with 1:29 remaining.
"This is something that can give us momentum," Roeder said. "We have two home games next week, and I think this gives us more confidence. It shows us we have the ability to pull games out at the end. If we play as a team, good things will happen."
Roeder paced the Jaspers with 19 points, including five treys. She added five rebounds and four assists. Lawrence tallied 12 points and six boards, while Stec contributed 10 points and six rebounds. Skrec handed out five assists and recorded four steals, and Ericksen had six points and three steals to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Manhattan shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field and outrebounded Canisius 37-31. The Jaspers went 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from three-point land and 8-for-10 (80 percent) at the charity stripe.
Ruttle just missed a double-double for Canisius, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds. Kayla Hoohuli added nine points, while Ashley Durham had eight points and four assists. Morabito also tallied eight points for the Griffs, who shot 34.7 percent (17-of-49) as a team. Canisius shot 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from downtown and 75 percent (12-of-16) at the line.
Manhattan continues its three-game homestand on Friday night, when Siena (8-13, 4-6 MAAC) comes to Draddy Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. matchup. The Saints posted a 62-55 victory over the Jaspers in Albany on Jan. 13.
NOTES: The Jaspers hosted the Griffs on Super Bowl Sunday for the second time in three years...It was Manhattan's sixth straight win over Canisius...The Griffs lead the all-time series 28-23...After using a different starting lineup against Rider, Manhattan reverted to the same starting five as the Saint Peter's game (Skrec, Roeder, Lawrence, Ericksen and Stec)...All five starters played at least 31 minutes...Manhattan outrebounded its opponent for just the third time this season, and the first time since Jan. 18...Roeder drained five treys in a game for the third time this season...The Jaspers committed just 10 team fouls, a season-low...The contest was the opener of a Manhattan basketball doubleheader, as the men's team took on Saint Peter's following the women's game.
