RIVERDALE, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers women's basketball team (12-12, 6-9 MAAC) hung on in the waning seconds of the contest to defeat the Iona Gaels (10-16, 8-8 MAAC) by a score of 68-65 on Thursday evening inside Draddy Gymnasium.
The victory snaps a three-game losing skid for the Jaspers and, for the time being, puts Manhattan in the ninth spot in the MAAC table just two and a half weeks out of the 2025 Hercules Tire MAAC Basketball Championships in Atlantic City.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Coming off the first bucket of the game from the Gaels, senior forward Petra Juric leveled the game at one basket a piece with an open jumper from Hana Muhl.
- The younger Juric, in sophomore forward Kristina, put together back-to-back buckets to put the Jaspers ahead of Iona for the first time on the evening.
- Junior guard Brianna Davis made an impact in the early going with a driving layup and drew a foul to force a trip to the charity stripe. The Queens College transfer sank home the additional attempt and doubled up the Gaels.
- As time expired in the first quarter, freshman guard Claudia Jimenez sank home her fourth career triple to put her squad in front by nine.
- Back-to-back triples for Jimenez gave the Jaspers its first double-digit lead of the game roughly 90 seconds into the second stanza.
- Senior forward Ines Gimenez Monserrat added her first bucket of the game with a wide-open lane on the near wing to blow past the Gaels defenders for two.
- Jimenez kept her foot on the gas pedal with her third triple of the game, tying a career-high in three-point field goals made.
- Amid an Iona 8-1 run, Nitzan Amar earned a trip to the free-throw line to plug a pair of points to the scoreboard to bring the Jaspers' lead back in front to eight.
- After narrowing the Jaspers' lead to just four, Gimenez Monserrat found the cup for another two to give her squad a two-possession advantage.
- Gimenez Monserrat and Davis extended Manhattan's lead back to double digits with a pair of triples. Iona's Ella Fajardo quieted the roars with her own three-pointer on the ensuing play.
- With 12 seconds left in the third quarter, Nitzan Amar recovered the missed shot from Tegan Young and sank home another two points to recover the initial miss.
- During a 12-2 run for the Gaels, off an Amar missed runner, Petra Juric puts her length on display to break up the Gaels run with a two-point putback.
- With 23.8 seconds off a Manhattan inbound, Juric broke the tie with a jump shot converted. On the ensuing play, Iona's Zoey Ward went in for a layup but was denied by the aforementioned Juric with 19.9 seconds remaining to hold its one-possession lead.
STATS AND NOTES
- Senior forward Petra Juric logged a season-high 20 points on the evening. The Zagreb, Croatia product tallied one rebound shy of a double-double and contributed two key blocks down the stretch of the game.
- Junior guard Brianna Davis added 10 points on the night and grabbed five rebounds, one assist, and one block in 27 minutes on the floor.
- Freshman guard Claudia Jimenez etched a career-high nine points on the night by converting a trio of three-pointers in just nine minutes on the floor.
- Senior forward Ines Gimenez Monserrat tallied nine points on the night in four-of-11 from the floor. The Mallorca, Spain native grabbed four boards and logged one steal in a team-high 38 minutes on the floor.
- Manhattan logged nine more rebounds than Iona, 41-32, with 28 coming from the defensive side.
- Graduate forward Leyla Ozturk did not play tonight. Her status for Saturday at Quinnipiac is unknown.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
Head Coach Heather Vulin: "They battled adversity and showed incredible toughness. This past month has been a ton of adversity in terms of injury, sickness, and players in and out of the lineup. Obviously, not having Leyla (Ozturk) today was a huge part of what we do. But I was really impressed with how we came out. We played with great energy and really did a great job executing the game plan."
Vulin on Petra Juric: "I thought she played like a senior tonight. She was demanding the ball. She made some really big plays. Obviously, she scored the ball and made some big plays offensively. But, defensively? Had a few really key stops for us that kept us in it and kept the momentum on our side."
Vulin on Iona: "Iona's a very dangerous team. They do a great job at spreading you out. When that happens, they shoot a lot of long shots, a lot of long rebounds. I thought we did a better job rebounding against them tonight rather than last game. It was a great MAAC win. Really proud of the girls."
Senior forward Petra Juric: "Overall, as a team, we had a really tough few weeks. We wanted to get a good team win going into the MAAC Tournament. It's almost that time."
NEXT UP:
Manhattan is back on the road. They will travel to Hamden, Connecticut, to battle the Bobcats of Quinnipiac University on Saturday, February 22, at 2 p.m. inside M&T Bank Arena. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.