It seemed almost too obvious how Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the 3-12 (1-4 MAAC) Manhattan Jaspers and a Marist squad coming off the momentum of a six-game winning streak to a 15-5 (7-1 MAAC) record was going to end up, but they play the game for a reason.
Manhattan knocked down tough shots and took advantage of Marist’s shooting slump to build a lead in the second-quarter and continued to cruise to a 69-51 upset victory in front of a packed and lively McCann Arena crowd.
“We’ve had games where we were good on the defensive end, but not good on the offense end and vice-versa,” said Head Coach Brian Giorgis. “Today was a day where we were bad at both.”
In addition to the loss, Grace Vander Weide could miss some time. She left the game in the fourth-quarter after a collision left her on the floor for a minute with the pain visible on her face. She walked off with a trainer and returned to the bench holding an ice pack on her arm. “We are waiting for the X-ray results to come back, but it doesn’t look good,” Giorgis said about her status.
Vander Weide, a floor general for the team, is averaging 6.6 points and a team-leading 4.6 assists per game.
The Red Foxes trailed by two going after the first quarter. They shot a flat 2-for-11 from the field, but went 8-for-8 from the line to salvage their offensive production.
In the second-quarter Manhattan took control, outscoring Marist 19-11 in the quarter. Manhattan’s D’Yona Davis produced 10 points in the first half. The Jaspers were able to create open shots, going 6-for-14 from 3-point range in the half to Giorgis’ frustration.
“They hit everything. We had some bad communications on defense. There was three times we called switches and nobody switched that can’t happen.”
Rebekah Hand led the team in scoring with 16 points, but only shot an inefficient 3-for-11 from the field. “It was a bad day every which way: bad shooting, bad defense, a lack of focus out there,” Hand said.
In the third quarter, Marist picked up its intensity and shooting. Freshman Sarah Barcello gave the Red Foxes a spark hitting two 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut the game to a six-point Jaspers led. This was followed by a Louisa Hinningsdottir steal for a fast break layup by Alana Gilmer to make the score 47-43. However, Manhattan’s center Julie Hoier hit a three to close out the quarter.
Marist’s momentum did not carry over to the final quarter, as Manhattan went on 11-0 run.
Manhattan was led by season-high performances from bench players Lynette Taitt and Julie Hoier who scored 20 and 16 points respectively. The Manhattan bench scored a total of 45 points.
“They have players,” Giorgis said about Manhattan. “They just haven’t played well together during the year and haven’t played that type of defense.
The one bright spot for the Red Foxes was its performance on the free-throw line. Hand who leads all of Division 1 basketball in free-throw percentage, 97.3 percent, went 8-for-8 today from the line, extending her consecutive made free-throw streak to 62. Hand’s active streak now stands fourth all-time in NCAA history. The team as a whole also kept up its success from the line shooting 17-for-18. Coming into today, the Red Foxes ranked 20th in Division 1 for free throw percentage.
Marist does not have to wait long to try to bounce back as they face Rider Wednesday at the McCann Arena.
Edited by Oscar Fick
