Riverdale, NY (December 20, 2004)- Manhattan came back from a 35-31 halftime deficit this afternoon to defeat Miami (Ohio) 69-61 at Draddy Gymnasium. Seniors
Serra Sangar and
Donnette Reed led Manhattan (5-3) with 20 and 19 points, respectively, while freshman
Gabrielle Cottrell scored a career-high 12 points, including 7-7 from the foul line. Amanda Jackson had 27 for Miami (6-4) to lead all scorers.
The RedHawks jumped out to a 23-11 lead in the first half behind 14 points from Jackson during that stretch. A layup by Cindi Merrill then extended Miami's lead to 30-20 with 2:35 left in the half. Merrill scored all 14 of her points in the first half and was held scoreless in the second half. Manhattan bounced back to cut the lead to four when
Donnette Reed made a steal and took the ball the length of the floor in the waning seconds to bring Manhattan within four.
Miami would extend its lead to 38-31 on a three-pointer by Nicki Motto, but Manhattan came back again and tied the game at 40 on a jumper by freshman
Joann Nwafili. Miami again took the lead on a trey from Jackson, but Manhattan ultimately took the lead for good on a pair of free throws from Cottrell that made the score 46-44 with 11:33 remaining. The Lady Jasper lead would grow to nine points (58-49) on a Nwafili layup with 7:16 left. However, Miami held Manhattan to only one field goal over a six-minute stretch and narrowed the lead to 62-60 on a basket by Jackson. But Manhattan again responded when freshman
Aubrie Dellinger hit a three-pointer from the right baseline with 51 seconds left to give Manhattan a five-point cushion. The Lady J's then hit four consecutive free throws to seal the victory over the defending MAC regular season champs.
In addition to her career-high 12 points, Cottrell came down with six rebounds, and Manhattan outrebounded Miami as a team 41-33, including 17 offensive rebounds.
The Lady Jaspers will return to action a week from tomorrow-Tuesday, December 28, when they will start a three-game road trip. Manhattan will begin the trip by travelling to Staten Island to face Wagner at 7 p.m.
