Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. –  Senior guard Simona Gordon (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) tied for the game high with 19 points as the Manhattanville women's basketball team easily defeated SUNY Purchase, 83-66, on Monday evening inside Kennedy Gym in the Battle of Anderson Hill Road.  

All 10 Valiants that saw action in the contest scored, with junior Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) finishing with a double-double, as she scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore Janetta Arnold (Windsor, Conn./Suffield Academy) scored 12 points on 2-of-3 from the outside and 2-of-4 from the line. The Valiants got another good performance from senior point guard Carey Hickey (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry), who nearly reached a double-double with seven points and nine assists.  

The Valiants never trailed in the contest, as Purchase tied the contest with their first basket but then fell into the trap set by their hosts on defense. Manhattanville led by single and double possessions for most of the half before eventually taking an 11-point lead with 8:14 remaining as freshman Beranda Felder (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Valiants a 26-14 lead. Purchase cut the deficit to as low as six (26-20) with 5:27 remaining on a jumper by Rachel Perrone, but the Valiants finished the half with a 6-0 run on a jumper by Hickey, free throws by Turner, and a layup as time expired by Gordon. Leading by 18 points (44-26) at the half, the Valiants shot 50 percent from the field while the Panthers shot 34 percent from the field.

The combination of Gordon and Turner nearly scored as many points as their opponents in the first stanza, as the guards scored 25 points on 10-of-15 from the field. Perrone and MaryAlice Palmer paced the Panthers with eight points each.

The Valiants breezed through the second half and held a double-digit lead for all of the final 20 minutes of the game. The Valiants took a 21-point lead on a layup by sophomore Jennifer McSharar (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) with 18:10 remaining as the lead was 50-29. The hosts took their largest lead of the contest on a three-pointer by Arnold to give the Valiants a 22-point edge, 66-44.

Perrone and Palmer led the Panthers with 19 points each as the Panthers finished at 40 percent from the field and 78 percent from the line.

Manhattanville's shooting was a bit better at 46 percent from the field and 60 percent from the line. The Valiants out-rebounded the local visitors, 49-34, and held a 52-28 advantage in the paint.

With the victory, Manhattanville (11-7, 4-3 Freedom) completes their non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 record and a pair of in-season tournament championships. The Valiants will get a bit of a rest before returning to the Kennedy Gym on Saturday afternoon for Alumni Day, where prior to the start of the Freedom Conference battle with King's (Pa.), former members of the women's basketball team will help raise the 1,000-point banner with the names of nine members of the milestone achievement. The pre-game ceremony will begin around 12:45 p.m. Fans that will not be able to attend the event can catch the live video broadcast on GoValiants.TV with a special pre-game show beginning at 12:30 p.m. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.