RIVERDALE, N.Y. — The Jaspers came out of the gates hot and never looked back en route to a resounding 73-50 victory over LIU on Thursday night at Draddy Gymnasium. Petra Juric (20), Nitzan Amar (14) and Leyla Ozturk (12) were the three double-figure scorers in the rout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Manhattan jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a pair of baskets from Petra Juric sandwiched around a three-pointer from Ines Gimenez Monserrat.
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After Janessa Williams' scored the Sharks first five points, Juric linked up with Muhl to get an easy lay-in for the Croatian center, extending the Jaspers lead to 11-5 at the 6:28 mark of the first quarter.
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The Jaspers kept their foot on the gas against a turnover-prone Sharks team, as Brianna Davis' steal and lay-up on the other end maintained a lead at 14-10. Less than a minute later, a three from Davis pushed the lead out to seven.
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LIU answered with a 6-0 run but the Jaspers would respond with finish inside from Tegan Young to raise the lead to 19-16 with two minutes left in the first quarter.
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Nearly three minutes into the second quarter, a lay-up from LIU's Patricia Sherrill cut the Jaspers lead to 23-22 before Manhattan responded with an 8-0 spurt featuring two threes from Amar.
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After the Sharks closed back to within four with 3:23 left in the half, Muhl found Ozturk for a clear jump shot and Amar added another conversion from the mid-range which raced Manhattan into halftime with a 35-27 lead.
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Manhattan continued to break down the LIU defense in the second half, ambushing the Sharks with a 6-0 run to start the third quarter on two more assists from Muhl to Juric built around a nifty drive and finish for Muhl.
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Another lay-up from Juric with 1:19 left in the third quarter increased Manhattan's lead to 51-36 before Williams responded with a three-pointer with 16 seconds left. A free throw from Amar sent Manhattan into the fourth quarter with a 52-39 advantage.
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Manhattan closed the game with a bang, outscoring LIU 21-11 in the fourth quarter representing the Jaspers' most dominant quarter of the young season.
STATS AND NOTES
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Petra Juric (8/9) missed only one shot in the win. She is shooting at a wild 66.7 percent (18-27) clip which has translated to 44 points (14.7 PPG) through three games.
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Muhl matched her career-high in assists with seven helpers, five of which were dished off to Juric. Muhl also delivered seven assists in the season-opening loss at Rutgers.
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Nitzan Amar has back-to-back games with three three-pointers for the first time in her collegiate career. Through three games this season, Amar is firing from three at a 38 percent clip on a team-high 18 attempts.
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Leyla Ozturk posted a stat line of 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
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Manhattan forced LIU into 27 turnovers on the strength of 13 steals. The Jaspers also had seven blocks.
QUOTES FROM MANHATTAN
Head Coach Heather Vulin on starting off the season 1-0 at Draddy: "We love playing at Draddy…the fans, the energy is tremendous…Obviously Hofstra (on Sunday) and Fordham (next Wednesday) are going to be tough match-ups but we schedule those games because we want to be ready for MAAC play."
Vulin on Petra Juric's dominant performance: "I put her on the spot. I thought she would have a size advantage as a senior and one of the best players in the MAAC. We need her to have performances like that and she rose to the occasion."
Vulin on the chemistry between Muhl and Juric: "Hana and Petra have played together back in Croatia so this isn't their first time doing this…Hana makes everyone better out there."
Vulin on Ozturk's all-around game: "She knows this is her last season and credit to her she's been making the most of it."
NEXT TIME OUT
Manhattan will go for its third straight win when the Jaspers welcome in Hofstra (2-1, 0-0 CAA) on Sunday. Tip-off is slated for 5 PM on ESPN+.
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