GW Hoops / GW versus Manhattan University Thread

**Posted by xAC** 12/07/2022 10:42 am

On Friday, The Manhattan University Jaspers come to DC to take on the Colonials in a 6:00 PM matchup. The Jaspers are one of the better teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), having finished last season at 21-11 overall and 14-6 in conference play (3rd of 11 MAAC teams). They come into the Smith Center with a 2-5 record including a win over Howard, and a 10 point loss to Fordham in their last outing on Saturday.

The Jaspers are led by 6’2” forward Petra Juric who is averaging 18.6 ppg and 11 rpg, and guard Dee Dee Davis, who comes in at 15.6 ppg and 9.2 rpg. This will be a tough duo to contend with as they contribute 34.2 points and 20.2 rebounds per game. Juric is particularly dangerous, hitting 62.8% from the field, but she’s not an outside threat. Manhattan only scores 56.6 ppg as a team and shoots only 18.4% from 3-point range, so if our defenses can keep them to those kinds of numbers, we can be successful in this game.

GW comes into this game a game at the .500 mark at 5-5, following the unfortunate events in TCU game. It’s unclear whether that contest will have any ramifications for players beyond their ejections from that game. If so, it will create yet another challenge for this team. Juric, who is a long and talented interior offensive player, is the kind that gives us trouble. Hopefully, we have enough of our players to help contain her and to relieve some of the responsibility from Taiwo, who has been prone to foul trouble as of late.

So where are we today? GW has shown steady progress and tremendous potential. Credit Coach McCombs has put together a competitive squad in her second year. We have three very confident seniors (Blethen, Brown, and Taiwo) who have stayed the course and are great representatives of the university. Add a trio of offensively talented seasoned veterans (Innis, Lakstigala, and Thornton) and throw in a precocious freshman in Roberston, who has the potential to lead the team in scoring this year, and if she does, she’ll no doubt be on the A10 All-Rookie team, if not ROY. Engel and Laureano are wildcards, who depending on their health and availability could be significant first tier contributors. Our subs (Gingras, Lok, Loving, and Macke) have shown they can hold their own in limited minutes. We’re not quite ready to overtake A10 teams that are stacked with talent (e.g. UMASS), but we can be competitive and finish higher than our predicted ranking of 11th place.

But I digress-- back to the matter at hand. As long we’re not missing too many key players, we should get a favorable outcome against the Jaspers. Let’s hope the team let’s can get past Fort Worth, and move forward.

**Posted by Steve Urkel** 12/07/2022 12:24 pm

https://gwsports.com/news/2022/12/7/statement-regarding-womens-basketball.aspx

**Posted by gwstudent2024** 12/07/2022 12:57 pm

Steve Urkel wrote:
https://gwsports.com/news/2022/12/7/statement-regarding-womens-basketball.aspx

Suspending anyone other than Brown is wild to me. Missing four players will be a big miss for GW, hopefully Inniss is back healthy and can play

**Posted by xAC** 12/07/2022 1:25 pm

BS. Does anyone know who the "lucky" one was and what the rationale for that decision was? Was this an NCAA, A10, or GW ruling? This statement by our AD was a PoC.

Last edited by xAC (12/07/2022 1:41 pm)

**Posted by Steve Urkel** 12/07/2022 1:52 pm

xAC wrote:
BS. Does anyone know who the "lucky" one was and what the rationale for that decision was? Was this an NCAA, A10, or GW ruling? This statement by our AD was a PoC.

I'd assume an A-10 ruling but could be wrong.

**Posted by Poog** 12/07/2022 1:54 pm

xAC wrote:
BS. Does anyone know who the "lucky" one was and what the rationale for that decision was? Was this an NCAA, A10, or GW ruling? This statement by our AD was a PoC.

Have to assume it was Lok since she wasn’t on the court when the fight occurred. I have no problem with the AD statement. Decision obviously passed down by presumably the NCAA since the A10 statement didn’t levy any accusations or penalties. Sucks but what you gonna do. Didn’t accept blame for player actions so no bus involved; merely accepted penalty since it apparently comes with no recourse.

**Posted by xAC** 12/07/2022 2:20 pm

Poog wrote:
Have to assume it was Lok since she wasn’t on the court when the fight occurred.

If that's the case, I'd be confused. Outside of the two who were throwing fists, the only other clear violation was Lok (leaving the bench was the violation). All of the other players would seem to be judgement calls based on their specific actions during the fracas. I guess we'll see.

**Posted by Poog** 12/07/2022 2:47 pm

xAC wrote:
Poog wrote:
Have to assume it was Lok since she wasn’t on the court when the fight occurred.
If that's the case, I'd be confused. Outside of the two who were throwing fists, the only other clear violation was Lok (leaving the bench was the violation). All of the other players would seem to be judgement calls based on their specific actions during the fracas. I guess we'll see.

Judgment call was made at the game that 8 players from both teams transgressed. Bullshit from my perspective but I don’t wear stripes. Seems like NCAA has some rule in section A (12)(l)(b.7)(eeniemeeniemineymo) that dictates the penalties for whatever violation it was that they deemed occurred. Just hope it’s 1 game only

**Posted by gwstudent2024** 12/07/2022 3:38 pm

Word is Lok was the only one out of the 5 ejected that practiced today. Take that for what you will. If Lok is the only one not suspended, I'd imagine the rationale is that she only left the bench while the other players "participated" in the fight

**Posted by GW Alum Abroad** 12/07/2022 4:21 pm

About the biggest surprise is that one of the Ejected Five is able to play against Manhattan. I found the official statement interesting in that it offered no appology and referenced "good people", which is kind of an unfortunate choice of words. We will see how much attention the "sorry, not sorry" tone gets...

**Posted by xAC** 12/09/2022 8:38 pm

GW controls the 4th quarter to beat the Jaspers 68-56.

So Brown and Loving sat out and Robertson and Thornton were allowed to play. Apparently, the NCAA gave us a waiver so that our four players could split the suspensions. Next game, Brown and Loving will play, while Robertson and Thornton sit it out. Seems fair.

Tonight, GW came out of the gates a bit flat, and poor shooting staked the Jaspers to a big 21-12 1st quarter lead. There was a six-minute scoring drought that really hurt us. In the 2nd quarter, our defense really stiffened up and some shots started dropping, allowing GW to take a 34-30 lead into the half. A lackluster third quarter where we missed numerous wide open 3’s allowed Manhattan to stay within 4 points, despite Lok’s 45-footer at the buzzer. Our defense was the story in the 4th quarter. We continued to miss some open shots, but we cashed in on some second chances and closed out the game at 68-56.

This game was a struggle at times. For the most part, the offense was pretty good, but we just missed a number of wide open 3-point shots (we were 8-28). Our defense was solid, and we managed to outrebound them by 15 (46-31), resulting in a 11-point advantage in second chance points. Although Manhattan outshot us 42% to 37%, our edge in offensive rebounds (22-8) allowed us to get off 70 shots to their 53 and that was the difference in the game.

Thornton led all scorers with 16 points and Taiwo had a big double-double (12 points and 17 boards). Robertson finished with 13 points and Innis chipped in with 11. Blethen (6 points and 5 rebs) played a solid game. She logged in a season high 32 minutes and hustled all over the court while playing in total control. At times, our guards dribbled their way into forced shots, which helped Manhattan gain a 13-3 fast break advantage. Blethen played under control and was a stabilizing factor in the game. Not sure what happened with Webster, but she only played 2 minutes tonight and Gingras didn’t get into the game at all. Good to know that when certain parts of our game aren’t in sync, we can still find ways to come up with the win. And it’s great get back above .500.

**Posted by GW0509** 12/10/2022 8:40 pm