Manhattan women’s basketball players gather for a team huddle, Nov. 2.
ARIANA CARIDDO / THE QUADRANGLE
Ariana Cariddo, Staff Writer
Manhattan University (MU) women’s basketball team opened its 2026-27 season with a win against Pace University on Monday, Nov. 2, at Draddy Gymnasium. Led by Head Coach Heather Vulin, who enters her 11th season with the Jaspers, Manhattan set the tone early and maintained control throughout the game.
MU took an early 16-11 lead after the first quarter and continued to extend its advantage in the second, outscoring Pace 15-6 to enter halftime ahead 31-17. The Jaspers maintained their momentum in the third quarter, adding 19 points while holding Pace to 10. Manhattan carried its lead into the final quarter, securing a 67-42 victory after outscoring Pace in each period.
Junior forward Laura Ring made an immediate impact in her first game with the Jaspers, leading Manhattan with 18 points. Ring knocked down four 3-pointers, helping the Jaspers maintain their offensive momentum throughout the game.
Ring joins MU after two seasons at Central Wyoming College, where she established herself as a strong offensive presence. During her sophomore season, she averaged 13.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while earning All-Region IX team honors, according to her profile page on GoJaspers. Originally from Dunedin, New Zealand, Ring brings both collegiate experience and an international background to Manhattan’s roster.
After making an immediate name for herself on her debut, Ring reflected on her transition to the program and what it meant to begin her career with a win.
“I joined this team because I just knew the team culture was really strong and it’s like a family, so I knew I wanted to join that family,” Ring said.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season with Ring, she hopes to continue building team chemistry and competing for a championship.
“I’m excited to get out there, continue building team chemistry,” Ring said. “I think we can be a strong, competitive team and hopefully get to the championship at the end of the season.”
While Ring made an immediate impact in her debut, Vulin was eager about her team’s overall performance in its season opener. With 12 new players on the roster and only three returning from last season, the Jaspers entered the season with a largely new lineup. Despite the roster changes, the Jaspers showed early signs of strong team chemistry in its season opener. Vulin spoke about the time and commitment the players put into their connection.
“We have 12 new players on the roster, and I’m just really proud of the time and commitment they put in to really gel at such an early point of the year,” Vulin said.
With the team continuing to develop their connection, Vulin emphasized the team’s versatility and willingness to compete, while pointing out the importance of becoming more consistent, offensively and defensively.
“I feel like we have a lot of different weapons, and this team doesn’t care who gets the credit, they just want to compete,” Vulin said.
Vulin also spoke about turnovers and offensive decision-making as an area the team will need to work on moving forward. She highlighted the importance of applying consistent defensive pressure, and trusting the team’s offensive system rather than relying on unnecessary dribbling.
“I feel like we had too many forced turnovers tonight, and I think we should push to be more consistent and dominant in terms of our defensive pressure, putting pressure on the ball to slow down their offense,” Vulin said. “I feel like we had a lot of unnecessary dribbles tonight, so just making sure we trust our offense and only dribble when we really need to dribble.”
Following the Jaspers’ 67-42 season-opening victory against Pace, MU faced the University of Albany, falling short in a 62-61 loss. After facing Bryant for a home matchup on Nov. 9, MU will prepare for its upcoming game against Fairleigh Dickinson University on Nov. 12.
The Jaspers will travel to take on the Knights as they continue to take on the 2026-27 season.