BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guard Jennifer Janiak (Chelmsford, Mass.) netted 18 points to give her three straight outings with 18 or more for the Simmons College women's basketball team in an 80-50 loss to visiting Manhattanville College this afternoon at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks' three-game win streak ends as they fall to 4-8 on the season, while the Valiants win their third straight game to improve to 9-4.
Manhattanville shot 50.8% (32-63) for the game, including 63.3% (19-30) in the first half and made the most of 25 Simmons turnovers, owning a 32-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Valiants opened the game with a three-pointer each from sophomore guard Alyson Chase (Chaplin, Conn.) and junior guard Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn.) as part of an 8-2 burst to begin the contest for the visitors. Manhattanville later maintained a 14-6 margin at the 15:51 mark of the half, before ripping off nine straight points to increase its lead to 23-6 with 12:43 to go in the first period. The Valiants later held a 29-12 cushion with 8:21 left in the half, before scoring six straight points, including four from senior guard Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn.) to take a 35-12 lead at the 6:42 mark. A pair of three-pointers from Janiak, sandwiched around a layup from Manhattanville's Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y.), pulled the home team to within 37-18 at 5:16. The Valiants closed out the opening period by scoring nine of the final 11 points to take a 46-20 lead at the break.
Manhattanville senior center Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) pulled down her seventh of a game-high 12 rebounds at the 17:33 mark of the second half to become just the second player in school history to register 1,000 career rebounds. She now has 1,005 in her tenure with the Valiants.
The teams played even through the first six minutes of the second stanza as Manhattanville owned a 55-30 lead with 13:44 to play in the contest. The Sharks reeled off seven straight points -- all coming from the free throw line -- to pull to within 55-37 with 8:48 remaining in the game. It was as close as they would come for the rest of the day as the Valiants put together a 21-7 stretch over the next five and a half minutes to take their largest lead of the afternoon at 76-44 with 3:16 showing on the second half clock. Franklin dropped in seven points to pace the visitors during the string. Simmons scored six of the next seven points, behind four from sophomore point guard Jamie Zoldy (Watertown, Conn.), to cut the score to 77-50 with 1:47 to go in the game, before Manhattanville came away with the win.
Janiak led the Sharks with 18 points on 7-11 from the floor, including 4-6 from three-point range in addition to five rebounds, and an assist. Zoldy ended the day with 13 points, six assists, five rebounds and a steal, while sophomore forward Liz Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with eight points, seven boards, two assists and a blocked shot.
Junior guard Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) led all scorers with 21 points and was 9-13 from the field, while adding five rebounds, two steals and an assist for the Valiants. Franklin finished with 16 points as one of four players to register double-digit scoring figures for the visitors and also hauled in five rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals. Pabon directed the action for Manhattanville with a game-high seven assists to go with 13 points, four rebounds and four steals, while Chase scored 10 points, grabbed four boards and handed out two assists. Caiazzo finished a point short of a double-double with nine and also dished out three assists, blocked a pair of shots and came up with a steal.
Simmons will be in action again on Thursday, January 15 when it hosts Lasell College to open the Great Northeast Athletic Conference slate at 7:00 p.m. at Moore Gymnasium, while the Valiants host Delaware Valley College on January 14 at 6:00 p.m.