RIVERDALE, N.Y. (February 3, 2024) – Grinding the whole game, Mount St. Mary's women's basketball forced 26 turnovers and never made the contest easy for Manhattan. When the Jaspers managed to get the shot off, however, they found the bottom of the net often and rode the efficient effort to a 67-60 win at Draddy Gymnasium.
Jessica Tomasetti had her best scoring day as a Mountaineer, registering a career-high 25 points on 12 field goals.
Isabella Hunt,
Jada Lee, and
Jo Raflo posted double figures on the day with 10 each.
Giana Hoddinott doubled her previous high for assists with six, and
Tessa Engelman added a career best five rebounds.
While forcing 26 turnovers to 11 giveaways, capitalizing by turning them into points proved a key difference. Mount scored 14 points off takeaways compared to 19 by Manhattan. Both teams were pesky on the offensive glass as Mount got 12 to the Jaspers' eight.
Despite taking 25 fewer shots than the competition, Manhattan was able to overcome the obstacles by shooting 61 percent on the afternoon. Four Jaspers reached double figures, led by 16 from Petra Juric.
Mount St. Mary's now sits at 7-13 (4-7 MAAC) this year while Manhattan improves to 15-5 (8-3 MAAC).
Tomasetti and Lee tag teamed on the offensive end, helping the Mount get off to a 5-for-10 start. Offensive boards by the Jaspers helped them to a 13-11 edge at the first media. Down a pair after the first quarter, the Mount continued to keep pace and rallied from as much as eight to deadlock proceedings by halftime on a Lee jumper.
Manhattan accounted for three of the first four makes in the second half to gain the upper hand. Despite being behind the rest of the way, the Mountaineers kept within striking distance, closing the gap to 46-45 late in the third and 50-48 early in the fourth. A 10-5 run by the Jaspers after that point proved too much to overcome as the seconds ticked away.
Mount returns home to battle Rider on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 8).
