Jaclyn Marr

With a fourth seed spot on the line going into the conference tournament, Manhattan’s women’s basketball team came up short in their senior day matchup against Rider. The Jaspers fell 56-49 to the Broncs, who are just 5-15 in the MAAC.

Manhattan’s finishing record is 14-15 overall and 11-9 in the MAAC, their first winning record for the first time since 2011-2012. They clinched on Feb. 26 in their 60-43 victory over Saint Peter’s.

Before the game, Manhattan honored their five seniors Crystal Ross, Blake Underhill, Shayna Ericksen, Jacqui Thompson and Kylla Champagne. Head coach John Olenowski called them the “leadership class” as they brought a combined 400 games of collegiate experience into the 2015-2016 season. They are the largest senior class he has had in his seven seasons at Manhattan.

“We didn’t give up; we fought back,” Olenowski said after the loss. “We really tried hard to come back. We didn’t give up. We didn’t pack it in. We really came after them to try and get the win.”

Manhattan started out ahead with a layup from Ross before Rider quickly took the lead. The Jaspers got the lead back and ran with it to finish the first period up 12-8. Ross led with five points in her seven minutes played.

“I think at the start of the game we were a little bit sluggish,” Olenowski said. “I think [Rider] really capitalized on that and got the early lead. We were playing catch up it seemed like the whole game. We needed to have a better start and we needed to have more energy the entire game. So the slow start hurt us and unfortunately we couldn’t catch up later on.”

Manhattan bounced back in the second half with 18 points in the third period. Ross and Tatum led the Jaspers with seven points each in the third. Both Ross and Champagne had three rebounds. In the fourth period, Champagne led with three offensive rebounds and eight overall. Ross notched seven total defensive rebounds to lead the team. Both Champagne and Underhill played a team-high 34 minutes each and Tatum was third with 32 minutes.

Olenowski noted some positives to take from the loss, including Ross and Amani Tatum’s strong showings. Ross led the team with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Tatum had 11 points and four steals in the second half after being scoreless in the first.

Looking toward the upcoming tournament, the Jaspers can secure a first-round bye as the fifth seed if Monmouth loses to Saint Peter’s and will face Fairfield in the quarterfinals on Saturday March 5. If Monmouth wins against Saint Peter’s, however, the Jaspers will fall to the sixth seed and have to play a first-round game against Saint Peter’s on Thursday March 3.

“We have been preparing for the MAACs all year round,” Olenowski said.” We always have a one game at a time situation. So, I think that we’ll just keep going and realize that the next game we play is the biggest game that we play. We’ll keep it as a one game at a time season.”

According to NCAA statistics as of Feb. 26, Manhattan ranks among the top 20 Division I programs nationally in three categories. They stand at 15^th place with 10.8 steals per game and 18^th with 291 total steals on the season. They are 20^th in turnovers forced with 20.37.

They also stand at 48^th in the country with 4.7 blocks per game, 49^th in blocks overall with 127 and 51^st with a turnover margin of +3.11. Tatum is fourth nationally in steals and fifth in steals per game (91 and 3.37). Kayla Grimme ranks 29^th in blocks with 65 and 32^nd in blocks per game with 2.41.

After finishing last season with only three wins overall, Manhattan’s women’s basketball team is just two games out of third place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season.

With under two weeks remaining until the conference tournament, the Jaspers are currently in fifth place. Head coach John Olenowski said that they want to improve to at least fourth place.

“It feels tremendous,” Olenowski said. “Last year was a struggle and to be in the upper echelon of the conference is what our goal was all season long. We are so happy that we are close to that goal.”

Last season, the team was in last place with a 3-27 overall record. They are currently 9-7 in the MAAC and 12-13 overall. They are coming off of a two-point loss to Canisius, just missing their final shot at the buzzer.

“Compared to last season, our team chemistry is much better,” guard Jacqui Thompson said. “We all have the common goal of getting to the championship, getting a bye the first round. I think everyone’s mindset is way different than last year.”

Differences between this season and last season are more depth and chemistry among the team as well as more player experience. Olenowski has emphasized defense for his team and it has shown significantly this season. With that comes more team and individual success.

Amani Tatum averages a team-best 11.6 points per game and leads the conference with 3.2 steals. Center, Kayla Grimme has 61 blocks on the season so far, equaling the second-highest total in program history for a single season. She averages 2.5 per game, which is the second-best in the conference. Shayna Ericksen and Blake Underhill average 7.5 and 6.5 points per game, respectively.   

“I think individual goals are great,” Olenowski said, “because we all kind of share them. Everyone is really happy for every player. So it’s a really positive thing that individual goals are being celebrated by the whole team.”

“Certainly, we feel that we can do very well in the conference tournament,” he continued. “So we are hoping we have a good shot to win it and get into the postseason tournament.”

Manhattan’s shot at winning the tournament might be aided by its place in the standings by the end of the season. One aspect to look at for the Jaspers is the rest of their regular season schedule. They have the easiest schedule remaining in the MAAC. After facing second-place Quinnipiac on Feb. 26, the Jaspers will finish the year with games against ninth-place Rider and 11th-place Saint Peter’s. Despite this, they are not taking anyone lightly.

“We got the hard games over with, sort of,” Thompson said, “but every team in this conference has been really up and down. Any night anybody can win. So yeah we have the lower-placed teams left but we have to take everyone like they are the first-place team.”

For Olenowski, Manhattan’s tough schedule to start the season has made his team battle-tested.

“Every game is a key one but certainly we have played all the top teams so far,” Olenowski agreed. “We are hoping that is going to be an advantage but we do realize that every game is a big game and we have to be prepared for it.”

The Jaspers have a tight finish to the regular season, with their last five games being over a 10-day period. They started the busy stretch in Western New York against Canisius and Niagara. They finish with two home games and a trip to Jersey City.

“We want to try and take it one game at a time,” Grimme said. “We’re in fifth place, only two spots from being in third so it’s a little easier to look at it in small steps.”

While the team is focused on the regular season and the next game ahead, they have a set goal on really making a run at the conference tournament, which starts March 3 in Albany, N.Y.

“We all talk and believe that we can win the tournament,” Thompson said, “so I think that’s our goal. We are going to take every game one step at a time but when we are in the tournament, our goal is to play the best basketball we’ve played all year.”

Coming off of a game with a poor offensive showing against Yale, the Jaspers bounced back with an 80-62 victory over Niagara to start MAAC play on Friday night. With the win, the team improved to 3-4 on the season.

This was the fourth time in five seasons and the fifth in John Olenowski’s seven years as head coach that the Jaspers won their conference opener.

“It was a big goal of ours,” Olenowski said of starting conference play with a win. “It’s always important to get that win.”

Niagara notched an early 5-2 advantage but a jumper by Kayla Grimme and a Taylor Williams three-pointer put the Jaspers on top 7-5. The Purple Eagles took the lead back briefly until Williams responded with another three-pointer. The Jaspers regained the lead and never looked back.

“It was really good to start conference play with a win,” Shayna Ericksen said. “We set the tone for the year and the rest of MAAC play.”

Williams and Crystal Ross helped lead the Jaspers with 17 and 14 points respectively. Ross also had a 6-for-6 shooting night, to go along with eight rebounds. She became the first Jasper to go perfect from the field since Caitlin Flood went 10-for-10 against Siena on Jan. 11, 2008.

Grimme notched 10 points, seven boards and six blocks. Ericksen had 10 points and six rebounds. Blake Underhill tallied seven points and four assists while Amani Tatum put up six points, four rebounds, five assists and had four steals. Freshman Courtney Hagaman notched her first career points in the game.

The Jaspers shot 51.6 percent from the field, compared to 20.8 percent in their game against Yale. They went 35.7 percent from long range and 69.2 percent at the free throw line.

“We had a lot of points in transition,” Olenowski said of the team’s improved offense. “We controlled the ball better and had more balanced scoring.”

Williams said that the team’s 1-3-1 defense is key and Ericksen noted how the team’s shooting overall has gotten better.

The Jaspers had a dominant victory over Brown 80-56 on Sunday Nov. 29. Williams led the team with 25 points, updating her season average to 8.8 points per game. Tatum is leading the scoring for Manhattan with 13 points and 2.4 steals per outing.

Nyasha Irizarry averages 9.5 points per game. Grimme tallies 7.6 points and a league-leading 10 rebounds per outing. She also ranks third nationally with 3.8 blocks per game. Underhill notches a team-high 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

Olenowski noted how the defense has improved through the season so far compared to last year and that the team has great depth. He was pleased with the team’s offensive weapons that were shown against Niagara and said that it was a key aspect moving forward.

“We’ve improved a lot,” Williams said, “and now we are tied in the conference.”

With the minutes winding down in the game against Niagara, Coach Olenowski substituted all five players on the court with players on the bench, which got every player into the game during the night.

“It really shows our depth,” Ericksen said. “Our bench picks us up.”

Manhattan is 3-0 this season when scoring 80 points or more, previously winning over Brown and an 85-78 victory against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 14.

“We need to keep energy throughout,” Ericksen said of key aspects to take from Friday’s game. “We need to be strong all four quarters like we did tonight.”