The Canisius College women's basketball team lost 50-40 to Manhattan College in the Koessler Athletic Center on Friday evening. The Golden Griffins drop to 12-16 overall and 6-11 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Sophomore Jamie Ruttle was the only Canisius player to reach double figures as she scored a game-high 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Freshman Kayla Hoohuli had eight points, four rebounds and four steals in 39 minutes while junior Ashley Wilkes had a game-high eight rebounds.

Canisius shot 34.8 percent from the floor (47.6 percent in the second half), but couldn't overcome 3-for-20 shooting from behind the arc. Canisius held Manahttan to 31.8 percent from the floor. The Jaspers forced 25 Canisius turnovers while Canisius forced Manhattan into 21 turnovers.

"I was really pleased with our effort tonight, especially on the defensive end. That is as well as we have played defensively in the past few weeks," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We couldn't get any of our outside shots to fall. We did struggle with Manhattan's zone and had too many turnovers, but I feel this is an effort we can build on from our team going into Sunday and going into the MAAC Tournament."

Both teams struggled offensively through the middle portion of the first half. The Japsers took an 11-7 lead with 14:14 remaining on a 3-pointer from Alyssa Herrington. Neither team scored for nearly four minutes, and Canisius cut the lead to 13-11 on a jumper from Hoohuli with 6:33 remaining. Manhattan held Canisius to one basket for the rest of the half - a layup from Ruttle with 1:08 left - and took a 24-13 lead into the locker room.

Manhattan made its first three shots of the second half, with a 3-pointer from Monica Roeder pushing its lead to 30-13 with 18:09 left. Canisius cut the Manhattan lead to 41-31 after an 8-0 run capped by a layup from Ruttle. The Jaspers pushed the lead to 45-31 before a 7-1 run by the Griffs made it an eight-point game (46-38) after a 3-pointer from sophomore Jen Morabito. The Jaspers didn't make a field goal during the final six-plus minutes of the game, but went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line down the stretch to put the game away.

Schyanne Halfkenny led Manhattan with 15 points while Herrington had 10 points, four assists and four steals. Manhattan had 14 steals in the game and shot 16-for-20 from the free-throw line.

Canisius plays its final regular-season game on Sunday, when the Golden Griffins host Siena College on Fan Appreciation Day in the KAC. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

Notes: Manhattan defeated Canisius for the fifth consecutive meeting... The Griffs lost to the Jaspers for just the sixth time in 23 meetings in Buffalo... Canisius has dropped three straight at home for the first time this season... Ruttle has scored in double figures in six of the last seven and is averaging 14.9 points per game in the month of February... The 11 steals for Canisius were the most since the Griffs had 12 at Bucknell on Nov. 30... Freshman Brooke Angelos made her first start for the Griffs and played 20-plus minutes for the third straight game... Canisius shot 50 percent (13-for-26) on two-point shots in the game.