After a disappointing 2014-15 campaign, the Manhattan College women's basketball team is ready to turn the page. And Head Coach John Olenowski is optimistic that the Jaspers will be able to turn it around—and then some—in 2015-16.
In addition to returning 91 percent of its scoring for a season ago, Manhattan has brought in a pair of transfers and two freshmen. Olenowski believes that this increased depth and the lineup flexibility it creates are among the biggest differences between this season and last, and its why he thinks the Jaspers are capable of returning to the top of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
“We have tremendous depth this year,” Olenowski said. “We have a lot of people who can contribute. I think that our rotation is quite deep, but also, we're a lot more athletic this year. It's really exciting the way we're coming together.”
Backcourt
One of the reasons Olenowski thinks this season will be different is sophomore Amani Tatum. Tatum sat out last season after transferring from James Madison, where she played in the 2014 NCAA Tournament as a freshman. A dynamic playmaker, the Queens native will immediately step into the Jaspers' lineup.
Seniors Blake Underhill and Jacqui Thompson split the point guard duties last year, and they both figure prominently into Olenowski's 2015-16 plans, as well. Underhill started 18 games last season and dished out a team-high 98 assists. Thompson, meanwhile, was one of three Jaspers to appear in every game. She started 12 times and had a team-best .852 free throw percentage in her first season at Manhattan after transferring from Wagner.
Sophomores Nyasha Irizarry and Taylor Williams saw more playing time than anybody a season ago. The duo ranked 1-2 on the squad in minutes played as freshmen, and they tied for the team lead with 44 three-pointers apiece. Williams tallied 7.7 points per game in 2014-15, while Irizarry finished with a scoring average of 7.2 points per game. With a full year of collegiate experience under their belts, Olenowski expects the production to increase from both players.
Another dangerous three-point threat is junior Maeve Parahus. She hasn't missed a game during her two seasons in Riverdale and made eight starts last year. Fellow junior Nicole Anderson contributes at both ends of the floor and is one of the Jaspers' best defenders.
Rounding out Manhattan's corps of guards are junior Alex Cohen, sophomore Sheridan Heine and freshman Courtney Hagaman. Cohen has proven to be a valuable spark off the bench with her ability to hit the three, while Heine tallied nine points in the Jaspers' victory at Saint Peter's last season. Hagaman comes to Riverdale from Manasquan High School in New Jersey, where she was named Shore Conference MVP in 2013-14.
Frontcourt
Perhaps the biggest difference between last season's team and this year's is the presence of 6-foot-4 center Crystal Ross. A graduate transfer from James Madison, Ross will use her final year of collegiate eligibility at Manhattan, and she gives the Jaspers a big, imposing post player who should make a difference on both sides of the ball.
Joining her in the frontcourt is senior Shayna Ericksen, Manhattan's top returning scorer and rebounder. A three-year starter, Ericksen averaged 9.3 points and 6.0 boards while also tallying eight double-doubles last season. Already one of 16 Jaspers all-time with over 500 career rebounds, she enters her final campaign just 241 points shy of becoming the 21st 1,000-point scorer in program history. Ericksen was selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team.
Fellow returnees Kayla Grimme and Kylla Champagne provide a nice complement to Ross and Ericksen. Grimme, a sophomore center, was second on the squad in scoring (7.8 ppg) and tied for the team lead in rebounding (6.0 rpg) last season. She also ranked seventh in the MAAC with 1.3 blocks per game, and her 37 blocks were the 10th-most for a single-season in program history. Now a senior, Champagne is one of the Jaspers' best defenders and rebounders.
Manhattan can also turn to talented sophomore Mikki Guiton and freshman Morgan Graziano in the frontcourt. After missing the entire 2013-14 campaign with an injury, Guiton proved to be a valuable contributor off the bench last season as a redshirt freshman. Graziano, meanwhile, was a second team all-conference performer last year at Holmdel High School in New Jersey.
Schedule
The Jaspers begin the season at Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 14 before facing rival Fordham in the home opener on Nov. 18. The Rams, who played in the Women's NIT, are one of three teams that reached the 2015 postseason on Manhattan's non-conference schedule. Manhattan has back-to-back games against NCAA Tournament participants St. Francis Brooklyn (Dec. 18) and American (Dec. 20) to round out their non-conference slate.
Just like last season, Manhattan will play a pair of MAAC games in early December before resuming its conference schedule after the New Year. The Jaspers will host Niagara, the team that knocked them out of the 2015 MAAC Tournament, in their MAAC opener on Dec. 4 and visit defending conference champion Quinnipiac on Dec. 6.
Once conference play resumes, Manhattan will play three straight on the road before starting a season-long four-game homestand on Jan. 12. The Jaspers will conclude the homestand against Saint Peter's on Jan. 21 in the first game of a doubleheader with the two-time defending MAAC champion Manhattan men's team. That contest will be shown live on ESPN3, the first of two home games this season that will be featured. The Jaspers will appear on ESPN3 again when they host Monmouth on Feb. 11.
Regular season play concludes with a home game against Rider on Feb. 28. The Jaspers then head back to Albany's Times Union Center for the 2016 MAAC Tournament, which will have a slightly different format this season. After the first round games on Thursday, March 3, the quarterfinals involving the top two seeds will be played on Friday, March 4, with the other two quarterfinal games on Saturday, March 5. The semifinals are on Sunday, March 6, and the MAAC Championship Game on Monday, March 7, will once again be broadcast live on ESPNU.
“What I honestly think is that we have a team that's capable of finishing in the upper echelon of the MAAC this year,” Olenowski said about his squad that was picked seventh in the MAAC Preseason Poll. “We did that my first few years and want to get back that prominence. With the team that we have and how hard we've worked, we have the opportunity to be one of those really strong teams.”
