Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. –  Senior guard Simona Gordon (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) scored her 1,000th career point and classmate Carey Hickey (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) notched her 400th career assist as the Manhattanville women's basketball team defeated the FDU-Florham Devils, 75-46 on Thursday evening in a Freedom Conference meeting at Kennedy Gym. 

Manhattanville finished with three players in double figures led by sophomore Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) with her second career double-double scoring 16 points along with 12 rebounds. Gordon and Hickey contributed with 11 points each, as their individual accomplishments drove the team to victory. Hickey finished just one assist short of a double-double, as did junior guard Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) who had 10 rebounds and nine points.

Freshman Beranda Felder (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) had a nice game off the bench with 10 rebounds and four points. Junior Kelli Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) continues to balance out the scoring and defensive sides of the game as she scored eight points along with six rebounds, four of which came on defense. 

For Gordon her 1,000th point came with nine minutes to go in the first half with the Valiants leading 23-16 with an assist by Wilson. The other individual accomplishment in the game came much earlier, as Hickey assisted on Wilson's first three pointer of the game at the 15:48 mark, when the team led 11-7.

“I'm really thrilled for our seniors. The way they played tonight, on a milestone night, is a testament to who they are and what they mean to this program. For Hick to dish 400 assists and Mo to reach 1,000 points on the same night was something special,” said head coach Lauren Thomer.

The contest saw only two lead changes and the scored tied just one and it came early, as the Valiants scored the first basket 38 seconds into player on a layup by Wilson. FDU tied the contest on a jumper by Shealyn Taggart and took a three point lead on a trifecta by Shaleah Alston.  The home team took the lead for good with 17:07 remaining on a layup by Hickey to take the one-point edge, 6-5.

The Valiants took a double-digit with 5:57 remaining on a pair of free throws by Gordon giving the home squad a 29-19 lead. The Valiants ended the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 38-25 lead into the half. Gordon led all scorers with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. The Valiants shot 43 percent in the half and 6-of-7 from the line.

In the second half, the Valiants continued to run and took a 17-point lead with 17:08 left on a long-distance shot by Wilson. A layup by senior Kaitlin Degnan (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) with 9:37 remaining upped the lead to 20 points (58-38) with 9:37 left.  Manhattanville took its largest lead of the contest up by 29 points late in the game on the squads sixth three pointer of the night made by Hickey.

The Valiants finished the contest shooting 42 percent from the field and 30 percent from the arc. As a team, the Valiants outrebounded the Devils, 52-35, and caused 18 turnovers with 11 steals.

Leading the way for FDU-Florham was Shaleah Alston with 11 points, followed by Shealyn Taggart with 10 points.

Manhattanville (9-5, 3-1 Freedom) will have little rest before heading to Dallas, Pennsylvania on Saturday morning for a 1 p.m. Freedom Conference battle with Misericordia University. WMVL 88.1 FM will have the live call from Misericordia beginning at 12:50 p.m. on GoValiants.com. FDU-Florham (6-8, 2-2 Freedom) will travel to DeSales for a 1 p.m. meeting on Saturday.