By Angela Quadrini, Staff Writer
The Manhattan College Women’s basketball team opened its season last night against Holy Cross. With new head coach Heather Vulin behind them, the Jaspers defeated the Crusaders 60- 56.
Holy Cross led the Jaspers in the first quarter 21-14. For the remaining three quarters, the Jaspers were able to hold a steady lead until Holy Cross tied the game 56-56 with 52.6 seconds left in the game. With 45 seconds to go, senior Maeve Parahus came up with a big three pointer for Manhattan to put it back on top.
With time running down the clock, Holy Cross missed two baskets on the other side of the court. Junior Kayla Grimme was fouled with 3.7 seconds remaining, then registered another point for Manhattan, sealing its season opener with a win. Manhattan won its home opener for the first time since the 2012-2013 season.
This marks the first win for new head coach Heather Vulin, who joined the Jaspers at the end of last season.
“The season opener was electric,” said Vulin, “A number of the girls told me this was the most number of people they’ve played in front of throughout their career here. I was excited for them because they’ve been working their butts off for me and I was happy to see their hard work getting acknowledged.”
431 fans were in attendance for the game last night, including a big crowd in the student section.
“This was the biggest crowd I’ve seen in all four years here,” said Parahus. “We want to try to win every home game here in Draddy in front of our fans.”
Although having 19 turnovers during the game, the Jaspers stayed focused and believed in each other, resulting in a win.
“We were able to find a way to win. I try to keep them focused on their goals during plays and quarters,” said Vulin.
With her senior season upon her, Parahus had a career high 19-point game.
“I thought we had a good game tonight,” Parahus said. “Defensively, we had a couple turnovers that could have been fixed but overall we put up a lot of good shots and were able to finish them.”
The team’s next game will be against Yale, on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7:00 pm in Draddy Gymnasium.