Senior forward Petra Juric giving her all to make a hoop during the game.
VINCENT DUSOVIC / COURTESY
By Julia Ciampa, Staff Writer
The Lady Jaspers dominated the Long Island University Sharks on the court Thursday night, with a final score of 73-50. At the first home game of the season, the Jaspers were ready to claim their victory.
Senior forward Petra Juric led the team to victory, scoring a total of 25 points for Manhattan University, only missing one shot throughout the game.
In a post-game interview, Juric mentioned the ways in which knowing the nature of her team helps her performance greatly.
“I think honestly last year we were learning how to play well together, and this year we know where to look for each other on the court much easier which helps,” Juric said.
The Jaspers started off the first quarter strong, with Juric scoring two points on an assist from Ines Gimenez-Monserrat. Following Gimenez-Monserrat’s assist, Juric scored a three-pointer, with an assist from junior guard Hana Muhl.
However, the Sharks were ready to fight back, continuously scoring back-to-back, reaching 16 points by the halfway point of the first quarter.
The quick comeback from the Shark’s didn’t intimidate the Lady Jaspers, as sophomore forward Tegan Young struck back with a layup and another assist from Monserrat. Towards the end of the first quarter with a score of 19-18, Juric’s layup extended the Jaspers lead to a first quarter score of 21-18.
In the second quarter, senior guard Nitzan Amar was another star player that came to the court eager to score more points. Amar’s performance and strategy to win was highlighted in this quarter, as her dedication to score was present.
Late in the second quarter, Amar scored three points. Keeping the Jaspers lead with a score of 26-22, Amar’s layup with an assist from forward Leyla Ozturk locked in another three points for MU. With less than a minute, Amar’s jumpshot gained the Jaspers yet another three points to tack onto their lead.
Amar’s efforts led the Jaspers to a comfortable halftime lead of 35-27.
Reflecting on her performance on her first home game of the season, Amar mentioned the importance of keeping the energy up on the court during the games.
“I think we started off really good, and then our energy started to dip down, but then we picked it right back up,” Amar said. “When we have fun, we play much better, and score much more.”
The Lady Jaspers were eager to fight back in the third quarter, as the overall momentum of the game changed, and the spectators were hoping for a MU win. The Jaspers subbed in Teagan Young and Brianna Davis, who showed off their dynamic to extend the Jaspers lead to 13 points by the end of the third quarter.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, both teams were ready to do all that it would take to win. In the first minute of the quarter, Amar scored a three point shot, assisted by Ozturk. Ozturk’s seamless layup scored the Lady Jaspers another two points, with another assist from Monserrat. Ozturk striked again, with a victorious jump shot gaining MU another two points.
In the middle of the final quarter, the Sharks began to tally up more points, with a score of 43. This didn’t intimidate Ozturk, as she executed another layup, leading the Jaspers to a score of 61-43.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Young re-entered the court, getting the chance to sneak in another two points. Shooting the last basket and gaining the final points for the Jaspers, junior guard Alyssa Costigan led the team to a score of 73-49. With only a few seconds left, the Jaspers claimed their win, with a total score of 73-50.
Ending their game with a victory, women’s basketball head coach, Heather Vulin, reflected on the team’s performance in a post-game interview.
“I thought it was an overall good team win, but I feel like our goal as a team is to be great,” Vulin said. “So there are definitely some areas that we have to clean up, and we had far too many turnovers. I don’t feel like we controlled the boards like we were capable of controlling, but this group has been really special and I really enjoy being in the gym with them. I really think there’s a lot of wins in the future if we can stay healthy.”
As the season has just begun, Vulin shared some insight into what she will focus on in the upcoming practices for the games to come.
“I think right now we haven’t reached our potential in terms of being able to execute and dominate certain areas,” Vulin said. “Right now we have been scoring the ball well, getting 70 every game that we’ve stepped onto the court for, and even today we had over 20 assists which was phenomenal! But, defensively, I just don’t want it to be a shootout and just outscore the other teams. Defense will definitely be an emphasis, and cleaning up our offense to execute some strategies better.”