Box Score
WAYNE, N.J. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team nearly pulled off an upset of the No. 4/3 team in the nation, William Paterson, in Wayne, N.J. on Tuesday night, but the Valiants could not capitalize on their chances and fell in double overtime by the score of 103-99.
The 99 points this evening are the fifth-most points in a single game in program history, and the most since February 19, 1986 when the Valiants scored 103 in a regulation win over Bard.
William Paterson started the season off with a layup for the Pioneers, while senior Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) responded with Manhattanville's first basket of the game on a free throw to trim the lead in half. The Pioneers then pulled off a 14-2 run to take a 16-3 lead with 12:59 to go in the first half.
Sophomore Beranda Felder (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) finally snapped their run with a free throw and the Valiants began their own streak, outscoring their hosts during an 8-2 run to trim the lead back to 18-11. From that point the Valiants and Pioneers exchanged baskets for the remainder of the half until the final three minutes, when Manhattanville cut into a 15-point deficit all the way to five as the Pioneers took just a 44-39 lead into the break.
After the break junior Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) came out of the gates with a big three-pointer to make it a two-point game, and after a William Paterson basket she then drilled back-to-back baskets, including a three-pointer at 17:54 to give the Valiants a 47-46 lead.
Both sides continued to exchange baskets throughout the remainder of regulation, including a Turner layup with 50 seconds left on the clock to give Manhattanville an 80-79 lead. Two points apiece later, senior Kelli Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) hit both free throws to give the Valiants an 84-81 lead with 10 seconds remaining.
But six seconds later a costly foul behind the three-point arc allowed Floriana Borova to shoot three from the charity stripe, and she calmly sunk all three to send it to overtime.
In the extra session, William Paterson opened up with a pair of three-pointers to take a 90-85 lead. But the Valiants did not quit, as both junior Jennifer McSharar (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) and Turner hit back-to-back baskets to bring the game within one.
Twenty seconds later, Felder hit a pair of free throws and the Valiants were back on top once again at 91-90. William Paterson hit one more from the field, and with 46 seconds remaining junior Sarah Gibbs (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) hit a free throw to tie the game and send it to a second overtime period.
In the second extra session Hyjek opened the scoring with a jumper to give Manhattanville the 94-92 lead. Paterson hit three straight free throws and took the lead back once again at 95-94, but Turner responded with two more and the lead tilted back to the Valiants.
The Pioneers added four more points and took the lead back, 99-96. Hyjek pulled it to within one once again as she hit a layup with 1:15 remaining; however, with a minute remaining Borova hit a layup to put the home team back up three. Sophomore Melody O'Connor (Kingston, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) hit one free throw to give Manhattanville 99 points to William Paterson's 101, but the Valiants could not score again and Paterson iced the game with two more free throws to clinch the victory at 103-99.
At the end of the game Turner led all scorers with 31 points, tied for ninth on the school's all-time single-game record list. The Valiants also got 26 points out of Wilson, and Hyjek added 18 of her own. Both Turner and Hyjek were a rebound shy of earning a double-double as well with nine boards apiece
Similar to the close score, rebounds were also close with William Paterson edging out Manhattanville 54-50. The Valiants, however, were the more accurate shooters going 50 percent from the field while the Pioneers shot 40 percent. Behind the arc Manhattanville went 6-for-11, all by Wilson, while William Paterson went only 6-for-28. The Pioneers also won the turnover battle committing 26 to Manhattanville's 37.
Manhattanville (0-1) will be back in action this weekend when they take part in the Marymount/Marine Corps Tip-Off Tournament, with their first game set to begin at 2:00 p.m. against Gettysburg. William Paterson (1-0) will look to shake off their scare when they travel to Boston to take on Moravian as part of the Emmanuel College Invitational on Saturday.
