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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.

QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS


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. 

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