Boxscore

ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – A strong second half surge was not enough to pull the Manhattanville women's basketball to victory, as the Eastern University Eagles held on to pick-up their third Freedom Conference victory of the season in a 77-75 win over the Valiants on Saturday afternoon at The Eastern University Gym.

The Valiants played with a depleted line-up as just eight players dressed and could not stop Shante Jones, as the guard scored a game-high 30 points along with 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals.  Bekah Roland also had a good game for the Eagles as she scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the win.

Manhattanville struggled in the first half and shot 39 percent, but were led on the day by senior guard Simona Gordon (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field. Three other Valiants finished in double figures as junior guard Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) nearly missed a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds.  

Sophomores Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) and Jennifer McSharar (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) were a big help in the second half, as the forwards netted 15 and 10 points, respectively in the contest, while combining for 19 points in the final period.

Getting the ball to the scorers was no easy task in this contest, but senior point guard Carey Hickey (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) found a way, as she broke her career assist record, which was previously set earlier this month with 14 dishes.

Eastern controlled the pace of the game and jumped out to a quick 10-point advantage (14-4) on a three-point play by Jones with 15:07 remaining.  Jones upped the lead to 19 points with a three-pointer with 7:27 remaining to take a 34-15 lead.

Late in the half, Eastern jumped out to their largest lead of the contest 36-15 with six minutes remaining as Jones hit a running layup. Manhattanville cut the deficit to 14 points after the team went on a 14-7 run to end the half at 43-29.

Jones and Gordon were the hot hands for the teams as the visiting Gordon had 13 points, but her host Jones had 16 points. Eastern shot 56 percent from the field in the half and got to the line connecting on 10-of-14 shots. The Eagles had more height then the Valiants and pulled down 21 rebounds to the Valiants 12.

In a tale of two halves, The Valiants used a 16-5 run to cut the deficit to three with 13:55 remaining in the contest as Wilson connected on a long-distance shot. The trailing Valiants were poised to not let the lead get over single digits and were successful in that nature, keeping the game to within two possessions for a remainder of the contest. With less than eight minutes left, Wilson once again nailed a shot from beyond to make it a 61-59 game.  

Later in the half, McSharar scored four consecutive points to make it a one-point game, 70-69, and then sophomore Janetta Arnold (Windsor, Conn./Suffield Academy) also made it a one-point ball game with free throws at 1:55. Eastern's defense were determined to not cough away the contest and scored five of the last eight game points to hold the lead.

Both squads shot well in the final half, as Manhattanville finished at 53 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 75 percent from the line. Eastern shot 55 percent from the field and were fortunate enough in not needing outside shots or crucial free throws to win the game.   

Manhattanville (10-7, 4-3 Freedom) will get back on the horse this Monday as they host local rival Purchase College at 7 p.m. at Kennedy Gym.