RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan Jaspers women's basketball team (1-0), on the backs of three players in double figures, won their opening contest against the Setters from Pace (0-0) by a final score of 67-42 inside Draddy Gymnasium on Monday evening. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Taylah Murtagh scored on the Green and White's first possession, driving inside for two. 
• Pace cut things to 11-9 midway through, but the Jaspers upped the margin to five by the horn, with Ana Zesati racking up the final four points.
• Laura Ring hit two three-point jumpers out of Manhattan's first three buckets in the second quarter, giving the hosts their first double-digit lead of the night. 
• Outside of a free throw from Laia Izquierdo Altimira, Amanda Baumgarte and Ring scored all other 14 of the home team's points before the halftime buzzer.
• A final jumper from Ring before the half expired gave Manhattan a 14-point edge at half. 
• Fresh out of the locker rooms, the Jaspers ripped off a 12-4 run capped off by yet another deep shot from Ring, stretching out the margin to 24 midway through the third quarter. 
• Baumgarte joined the party, knocking down her own from three before the quarter ended, heading to the fourth up 23. 
• Celeste Harper, Cortney Howell, Ruzgar Christina Boyle, and Kennedy Brown each put their names in the scoring column before the final horn, securing a 25 point victory for the Green and White. 

STATS AND NOTES

• Junior forward Laura Ring shot seven-for-11 from the field, including four-for-eight from beyond the arc en route to 18 points. The New Zealand native also tallied four steals and a pair of blocks
• Fellow Junior forwards Amanda Baumgarte and Ana Zesati followed behind with 12 and 11 of their own, respectively. Baumgarte also led the way in rebounding with eight. 
• Sophomore guard Celeste Harper knocked down two three-point shots off the bench, tallying eight in 23 minutes of action. 
• Manhattan shot at its best rate in both the second and fourth quarters, with a 50% clip.

• Head Coach Heather Vulin: "We have a lot of depth this year and that's really exciting. They play really well together and they're really unselfish, a really fun group to coach. I really like our versatility on offense and defense, it gives us a lot of different options in terms of what we do." 
• Junior forward Laura Ring: "We really knew our sets and we got the shots that we wanted. We had really good team chemistry and it was really fun to be out there." 

NEXT UP:

Manhattan will continue its 2026-27 campaign on Thursday, November 5 for their opening road game of the season, heading to New York's capital to take on the Great Danes from UAlbany. Tip-off from the Broadview Center is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 p.m., and can be viewed live on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.