Manhattan Lady Jaspers defending the Canisius Golden Griffins in a 54-51 victory.
ISAIAH ROSARIO / THE QUADRANGLE
By Isaiah Rosario, Sports Editor
After a must-needed win for the Lady Jaspers (17-8, 10-6 MAAC) against the Quinnipiac Bobcats, 72-66 in an overtime thriller, they returned home to face the Canisius Golden Griffins (14-11, 9-7 MAAC) who are right on their tail in the MAAC standings. Ahead of the matchup, Manhattan College was the fourth-seed and the Golden Griffins were the fifth-seed.
Canisius leads the MAAC in three-point shooting with 34.4% and also leads the league in opponent three-point percentage with 26.4%. As March inches closer, each game could be a MAAC tournament-defining game for the team.
In an absolute thriller and a back-and-forth battle, the Jaspers were able to come out on top 54-51. With this win and other help around the MAAC, the Lady Jaspers were able to slide up to third place in the MAAC standings.
“The coaches told us how important this game was [before the game], we all knew and we wanted this, we needed this after some bad losses we had before and we were just really excited to go after it,” player Jade Blagrove said. “We gathered ourselves and had a team meeting. We were just ready to go and we showed it today.”
Canisius was certainly aware of the interior presence the Jaspers have, with the Lady Jaspers Leyla Ozturk defending the paint, who is second in the MAAC in blocks, averaging 1.7 blocks per game. For the Jaspers to come out on top they needed to keep a keen eye on the Griffin’s Sisi Eleko. Eleko has been a major contributor to Canisius’s success as she is the MAAC’s leading scorer averaging 16 points per game in only 30 minutes of play.
“Sisi is having an incredible season,” Jasper head coach Heather Vulin said in a press conference after the game. “She’s only a sophomore. She had a great game against us when we were up [in Buffalo]. We just gotta make some adjustments and I thought our girls did an incredible job. So then they had to try to find someone else who wasn’t frustrated to score. She’s having an incredible season. She’s a great talent in this league.”
The Griffs were hot shooting to start the game, but they did not score a point in four minutes and shot 1-8 from the field in that span, which allowed the Jaspers to take the lead 10-7 with an 8-0 run. The Griffs were able to stop the Jaspers’ run with a three-pointer by Mackenzie Amalia. At the end of the first quarter, fans in Draddy looked like they were in for a thriller as Griffs were up by just one.
The exterior defense of the Griffs certainly showed up to start the game as the Jaspers were 0-4 from deep. Not getting looks from the outside did not keep the Jaspers from attacking the inside of the paint, as a majority of their points came from there. At a media timeout in the second quarter, the Jaspers were down by two halfway in the second.
A Canisius 7-0 run by Athina Lexa and Eleko put the Jaspers down eight at the half. The leading scorers at the half were Lexa with eight points and Ines Gimenez Monserrat with six.
“We knew this was a very important game,” Gimenez Monserrat said. “We were [8] down and we knew we had to fight extra, and do everything extra because it was a [eight-point lead]. So extra hustle, rebounds, and that’s what the message was, we have to play to win. [Coach Vulin] said, ‘If you’re not playing to win, you’re gonna go to the bench’.”
The half opened up with layups by Jade Blagrove and Eleko, and the difference remained at eight with six and a half minutes to play. A Jasper 6-2 run allowed the Lady Jaspers to get back in the game at 33-31 with under two to play in the third.
The fourth opened up with the Jaspers taking the lead after a layup by Gimenez Monserrat but the lead was short-lived, as Brooklyn Thrash hit a three-pointer that put the Griffs up by one with under eight minutes to play in the quarter.
Gimenez Monserrat had a swift crossover drive to the paint and cut the deficit down to two. After a missed shot from the Griffs, Anne Bair hit a floater to tie the game at 41. The Jaspers regained the lead after a jumper from Blagrove, but after a free throw by Tihanna Fulton the game was once again tied.
The Jaspers took the lead on as Gimenez Monserrat led the driving layup. The Griffs looked to play the foul game but it was not enough as the Jaspers solidified the game by making their free throws down the line and when they needed to most. The final score of the game was 54-51 Jaspers.
Vulin spoke about where the team stands heading into March and the MAAC tournament.
“I think one thing that we’ve done is shown resilience,” Vulin said. “We’ve won a number of games where maybe we didn’t have the lead going into the fourth quarter or at halftime… Things that we need to get better before March is our transition defense and our transition offense. We’ve got to just defend the three-point line better.”
The Lady Jaspers’ next game is on Feb. 29 at 7 P.M. at Mount St. Mary’s (Md.).