Poughkeepsie, NY (January 24, 2005)- Despite a furious second-half comeback, Manhattan could not regain the lead in the second half, and dropped a hard-fought 59-57 decision to Marist tonight at the McCann Center. Freshman Aubrie Dellinger scored a career-high 17 points to pace the Lady J's, while Kristin Keller led Marist with 15 points.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with six ties and five lead changes in the early part of the half. Marist (11-6, 5-3 MAAC) gained a 13-point advantage, however, with a 17-2 run that gave the Red Foxes a 30-17 lead with 1:56 remaining in the first half. The Lady Jaspers (7-10, 3-5 MAAC) fought back, ending the half on a 7-2 run, capped by a conventional three-point play converted by sophomore Kristen Tracey with 1.6 seconds left in the stanza, making the score at halftime 32-24.
After Marist had extended its lead to 44-33 at the 13:54 mark, the Lady Jaspers began to chip away, cutting the deficit to 48-43 at the 7:20 mark, and eventually cutting the margin down to three points (53-50) on a Sangar jumper with 3:32 remaining. Marist would widen its margin, but Manhattan cut the deficit to three again (58-55) with seven seconds remaining, but Megan Vetter converted one of two from the stripe, and Reed's layup at the end of regulation made the final score 59-57.
Senior Donnette Reed had 13 points and four assists for Manhattan, while classmate Serra Sangar chipped in with 10 points and three steals.
Fifi Camara scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, and the Red Foxes shot 54.2% in the first half and 48.9% for the game. Meanwhile, Manhattan shot 48.1% in the second half, and only committed 12 turnovers for the game.
The Lady Jaspers return to action on Thursday, January 27, when they will begin a three-game homestand, starting with a matchup against Rider. Game time is 7:00 p.m.