It was a battle and the Manhattan Women’s Basketball team (4-14, 3-6 MAAC) left their all on the basketball court, but they were not able to get the bucket needed to defeat Niagara (6-12, 4-5 MAAC) in a tough 71-67 loss at Draddy
Shayna Ericksen. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/ 1495 Sports
Gymnasium on Thursday night.
What had to be an emotional roller coster for the ladies, who ended the first half with a 36-32 lead. Sadly though the momentum they built evaporated in the second as Niagara went on a major roll in the second half. The game did not end there though, as the ladies locked things down to force an overtime period.
The two teams continued to hang tough, but in the end it was the rebounding efforts by Niagara that won them the night. The Purple Eagles had a total of 48 rebounds to Manhattan’s 25, and that was the key to their victory on this night.
Manhattan though played some great defense in the game, as the ladies were able to get 15 steals in the game. On the offensive side of the ball there were three Jaspers’ in double digit scoring, with Sophomore forward Shayna Ericksen (Long Valley, N.J.) leading the way with 17 points, while also grabbing six boards.
Junior forward Ashley Stec (Cazenovia, N.Y.) had 12 points, five boards and three steals, the seniors Allison Skrec (Roselle, N.J.) and Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) were both able to hit some clutch shots for Manhattan.
Roeder hit the first clutch three-point shot at the 2:57 mark of the second half to get the game at 61 points each. Skrec, meanwhile hit a clutch three at the 1:31 mark in overtime for a brief 67-66 lead. Roeder finished the night with 15 points, three steals, while Skrec had nine points, seven assist and three steals.
In addition to the missed rebounds, it just felt like the whole night Manhattan was forcing the shot instead of maybe waiting for the best way to happen. Either way the combination was not a good one for the Jaspers who have lost their second straight game.
The Manhattan Women’s Basketball team after having returned back to Draddy Gymnasium after three straight on the road, will once again find themselves traveling for two more games before returning back for the month of February.
First the ladies will take on Monmouth on Sunday January 26, before heading up to Siena on Thursday January 30. Manhattan will be back at Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday February 1 hosting Rider in a 2:00 p.m. tip-off time.
Fans are encouraged to check out our photos from the game seen here:
http://1495sports.com/2014/01/24/photo-gallery-manhattan-wbb-v-niagara-12314/
Video with a taste of the action from the game can be seen by clicking the link below:
http://1495sports.com/2014/01/24/video-manhattan-wbb-v-niagara/