BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Manhattan Jaspers women's basketball team (2-12, 2-3 MAAC), led by 16 points from Kristina Juric, won their second out of the last three games, this time against the Golden Griffins of Canisius (2-12, 0-5 MAAC) by a final score of 69-43 inside Koessler Athletic Center on Thursday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Seven unanswered points started the contest for the visitors, four of which came from Juric.
- Brianna Davis added the other five points to Manhattan's total of nine off a three-pointer and fastbreak layup within the first two and a half minutes.
- A pair from the free throw stripe courtesy of Colette Mulderig gave the Jaspers a five point lead after the first quarter buzzer.
- Juric found herself with double digits in the points category after two field goals within the first 90 seconds, along with her second steal of the day.
- Elisa Solé Sanchez tallied four of the final six Manhattan points in the first half, upping her total to six by halftime.
- Also of note after 20 minutes were the five steals that Solé Sanchez had accumulated, already tying teammate Celeste Harper for the most by a Jasper this season.
- Manhattan came out of the locker room hot for the second half, sprinting out to a 12-4 run capped off by Hana Mühl's layup.
- From there, the Green and White continued to dominate the frame, going on another 11-2 stretch to close out the quarter, with Davis scoring the final seven points.
- The final frame was the most even, as both sides scored 17 points.
- Ella Chandler and Alyssa Costigan chipped in the final buckets of the day, giving the road team a commanding 26 point victory.
STATS AND NOTES
- Junior forward Kristina Juric knocked down eight field goals en route to 16 points, her second-highest total on the season.
- Senior guard Brianna Davis followed closely behind with 14 of her own, along with four rebounds and a pair of swipes.
- Graduate guard Elisa Solé Sanchez set a new season mark with 12 points on six-for-ten shooting. The Spanish native also spread her wealth around the most, with five assists and six steals, the latter of which is a new season-high amongst any Jasper.
- Redshirt Freshman guard Ella Chandler collected the first collegiate points of her career on a three-point field goal with roughly 90 seconds remaining.
- Manhattan shot at its best rate in the third quarter, with a 52% clip. This is the highest single quarter shooting percentage Manhattan has posted in 2025-26.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
- Head Coach Heather Vulin: "A big word in the new year for us was discipline ... and I felt today we definitely showed some discipline and you can see some of the talent we have on this team."
- Vulin on Davis and Juric: "Bri has obviously had an incredible season, getting a lot of doubles ... for her to be tough has been really fun to watch. Kiki is just scratching the surface, we really think she has an incredible upside and these type of games are something we think she can do nightly."
- Vulin on what it will take to continue this: "We just need to stick with discipline, if we don't play with discipline our talent won't show ... Offensively, we have to take good shots, that's been an issue for us but I thought today we did a really good job of setting each other up."
NEXT UP:
Manhattan will continue its 2025-26 campaign on Saturday, January 10 when the Jaspers finish out their annual trip to Western New York against the Purple Eagles from Niagara. Action is scheduled to take place from Gallagher Center starting at 2 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
