Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. –  Five Valiants scored in double figures and the Manhattanville women's basketball team posted a 49-31 edge on the glass in picking up an 84-72 win over Wilkes in a Freedom Conference matchup at Kennedy Gym on Saturday afternoon.

Senior guard Simona Gordon (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) led the Valiants with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, along with seven assists. Junior Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) had 18 points and classmate Kelli Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) had 13 points and five boards. Sophomores Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) and Jen McSharar (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) also had great games with 16 points and seven rebounds, and 10 points and nine rebounds, respectively.  Senior point guard Carey Hickey (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) had seven assists and six steals as she controlled the game for her team.

The Valiants finished the game shooting just above the Colonels from the field at 45 percent compared to 42 percent for their opposition. Both squads hung around the free throw line for parts of the game as the hosts made 13-of-19 and the visitors shot 19-of-25.

Three Colonels finished in double figures, with Megan Kazmerski leading with a team-high 19 points. Sam Lynam had 18 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the outside and a perfect 5-of-5 effort from the line. Rounding out the Colonels double-figure scoring threat was Whitney Connolly with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Wilkes kept the game interesting early on, trailing by one point after an old-fashioned three-point play by Lynam with 16:55 left in the opening frame.  Manhattanville moved its lead to double digits with a lay-up by Wilson and a three-pointer by sophomore Janetta Arnold (Windsor, Conn./Suffield Academy), and then upped their lead to 17 points with 1:00 left on a lay-up by Turner, giving the home team a 45-28 lead.  The Valiants ended the half with a 17-point edge with a Gordon lay-up in the final seconds.

The host team dominated the paint in the first half, scoring 30 of their 47 points from down low.  The Valiants also used transition offense to score 26 points off turnovers.

Hyjek began the second half with a lay-up to give the Valiants a 19-point lead, but the visitors made a nice comeback throughout the half and eventually cut the game to single digits as they used an 18-4 run to cut the deficit at 58-53 with 9:18 remaining.  The Valiants were poised to capture the victory, however, and regained the double-digit lead late in the contest on a lay-up and a free throw by Turner with 6:02 on the clock.  The Colonels were unable to cut back into the double-figure deficit despite scoring seven points in the final 1:34, thanks to a layup and three-pointer from Gordon that kept the score out of reach.
 

Manhattanville (13-8, 6-4 Freedom) will head to FDU-Florham on Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. Freedom Conference game, as the Valiants look to further solidify its spot in the upcoming Freedom Conference Tournament.