THE HOME STRETCH
This is the second matchup between Manhattan (the school that claims to have pioneered baseball’s 7th inning stretch in 1882) and Minnesota (the school that invented cheerleading in 1898). The first meeting was in the third round of the lightly celebrated 2012 WBI post season tourney. The Gophers won 67-54 led by Katie Lobergs 15 points and 5 rebounds. Rachel Banham tossed in 14 as Minnesota moved on to the title game versus Northern Iowa.
Manhattan University has a long history. Founded by the De La Salle Christian brotherhood in 1853, It became a college in 1861 and relocated from lower Manhattan to a new Riverdale campus in the Bronx in 1922. Women were first admitted in 1973.
Arriving on campus in 1863 was Brother Jasper as, among his other tasks, prefect of discipline. Brother Jasper also introduced baseball to the school. Subsequently the athletic teams took the nickname Jaspers and he was credited with the 7th inning stretch when he noticed a restlessness among the student fans. This predates the pitch clock.
Manhattan’s women’s head coach is Minnesota Morris alum Heather Vulin. She is entering her 10th season and has found a niche in Riverdale as quoted in the Riverdale Press:
“It’s not an easy place to win at or retain talent or coaches at but I’ve been able to find a formula where I feel the players that have played here have really loved it.”
This season the Jaspers were picked 7th in the 13 team, Fairfield dominated MAAC. They’ve welcomed 10 newcomers to a squad that went 16-19 (9-11 MAAC) and lost to Fairfield three times (although the MAAC tournament loss was competitive).
Manhattan opened the season on Monday losing at home to Rhode Island 56-38. By quarter the Jaspers scored 6, 6, 17 and 9. Notable performers were 5’8” senior guard Brianna Davis with 18 points (7-8 from the line) and 5’11” forward Agar Farres Garcia with15 rebounds.
It’s going to take a combination of Brother Jasper’s restorative invention and SKI-U-MAH cheering to rouse this contest to even the enthusiasm level of the 2012 WBI.
