RIVERDALE, N.Y. The Canisius women's basketball team opened up its critical MAAC road trip with a 77-55 loss in Riverdale, N.Y. on Friday night. With the loss Canisius dropped to 9-13 overall and 4-9 in conference, while Manhattan improves to 10-11 and 7-5 in MAAC action.

The Griffs led the Jaspers midway through the third quarter, holding a 36-35 lead, however an ill-fated 17-2 run the rest in favor of Manhattan sealed the Blue and Gold's fate. 

Freshman Maria Welch, who made her first career start, led the team with 11 points and two rebounds. Meanwhile fellow first-year player Sara Hinriksdottir was the only other Griffs player to reach double-figures, as she notched 10 points and seven rebounds for the Blue and Gold.

Three players for Manhattan reached double-digits as Shayna Ericksen led the way with 17 points, and nearly completed the double-double with nine rebounds. Amani Tatum was next on the list with 15 points and Tyalor Williams notched 13.

Manhattan came in recording the most steals in the conference and excelled once again in that area, forcing the Griffs to commit a season-high 22 turnovers, while the Jaspers turned it over just seven times.

The Blue and Gold were also outrebounded 50-39 in the contest.

The Jaspers opened on a 8-4 run, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Shayna Ericksen and Nyasha Irizarry, but a Saliah Serrette trey cut the deficit to one before the first media timeout with 4:45 left in the frame.

Out of media the Griffs shooting cooled, going on a 2:46 scoreless drought before Hinriksdottir drained a pair of free throws to make it 11-9 with 2:22 left. Canisius was able to tie it up, however Manhattan scored the final bucket of the quarter to take a slim 13-11 lead into the intermission.

In the second frame, the Griffs took a slim lead late, as Hinriksdottir laid in a bucket, but Manhattan went on a 9-0 run to head into halftime up 31-23.

The Griffs retook a one point lead in the third quarter, but the Jaspers fought back once again, this time it was the final time, using an elongated 17-2 stretch to finish the stanza and take a 52-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started the way the third left off, as the Manhattan opened on a 4-0 run to force an early Griffs timeout with 8:43 remaining, as Manhattan led 56-38 and the Jaspers never looked back, finishing the contest with a 77-55 win.

The Griffs will finish up its final MAAC two-game road swing in West Long Branch, N.J. on Sunday afternoon, as the squad will play Monmouth at 2 p.m.