Bridgeport, Conn. - Utilizing the same aggressive defense they've displayed all season, the third-seeded Lady Jaspers (22-8) moved into the semifinals for the first time in eight years with a 59-47 victory over the sixth-seeded Gaels (11-20) at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.
"I thought we did a really good job defensively today," Head Coach John Olenowski said. "Our defensive effort was really, really good. On the offensive end, we shared the ball nicely. We only had 15 turnovers. In a game like this where you're pressed the whole game, 15 turnovers is pretty good. It's a big win for us and we're looking forward to tomorrow's game."
Manhattan built an early 9-4 lead before Iona rallied for five straight points to tie the game at 9-9. However, Lindsey Loutsenhizer (North Huntingdon, Pa.) hit a layup on the next Manhattan possession to ignite a 14-5 Manhattan run that put the Lady Jaspers in front 23-14 with 6:23 left in the half, and Manhattan led 29-23 at intermission.
Iona's Kristina Ford scored her team's first eight points of the second half to bring the Gaels back within four at 37-33, but Maggie Blair (Briarcliff, N.Y.) followed with an old-fashioned three-point play on the other end to bring the lead back to seven, 40-33, with 12:39 remaining. Toni-Ann Lawrence (Elmont, N.Y.) followed with a pair of buckets that made it 44-33 in favor of the Lady Jaspers. Iona got back within seven on a Diana Hubbard three-pointer at the 5:28 mark, but Manhattan;s lead was never seriously challenged again. A Blair trey with 2:21 left made it a 12-point game, 52-40, and the Lady Jaspers secured their first postseason win since 2007 with a 59-47 victory.
Abby Wentworth (Portland, Maine), Manhattan's First Team All-MAAC point guard, paced the Lady Jaspers with 14 points. She added four rebounds and five steals. Lawrence tied a career-high with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Schyanne Halfkenny (Hyde Park, Mass.) tallied eight points off the bench. Nadia Peters (Bronx, N.Y.) had seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Monica Roeder (Marlton, N.J.) pulled down seven boards. The Lady Jaspers shot 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the field, 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from downtown, and 63.6 percent (14-of-22) at the line.
Ford had a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Iona. Hubbard tallied eight points and nine boards, while Tomica Bacic grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out a game-high seven assists. Iona shot 28.1 percent (18-of-64) from the field and outrebounded Manhattan 42-38. The Gaels shot 20.6 percent (7-of-34) from three-point range and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) at the charity stripe.
The Lady Jaspers play second-seeded Loyola (19-11) in the semifinals at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised live on MSG. Loyola, which escaped seventh-seeded Canisius 68-53 in overtime, won both regular season meetings against Manhattan.