Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team rang in the 2012 calendar year with a 76-47 win over cross-town rival Purchase College on Wednesday evening. The Valiants were led by senior guard
Stephanie Vaiano (South Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), who scored a career-high 14 points on the night, while senior
Kelli Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) and junior
Jennifer McSharar (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) each had double-doubles in the lopsided victory.
Offensively the Valiants had a balanced attack with three starters reaching double-figures while also getting 29 points off the bench, led by Vaiano with a game-high 14. Hyjek and McSharar had 12 points apiece, while senior Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) quietly reached double-figures by adding 11 points as well. As a team Manhattanville shot 38.6% from the floor, but picked their spots and went 4-of-11 from beyond the arc.
On the glass, the team was led by Hyjek who finished with a game-high 14 rebounds, followed by McSharar with 12. Freshman Dominique Wilson (Coram, N.Y./Centereach) added seven boards off the bench and sophomore Beranda Felder (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) collected six as well. Freshman KellyAnn Sullivan (Amity Harbor, N.Y./Copiague) led the team in assists with five while Vaiano led the squad with five steals.
The Valiants fell behind 2-0 but answered back with five of their own to take the 7-2 lead that was capped off by a jumper from Vaiano. After a layup by Purchase, Vaiano added another six from the floor with a pair of three-pointers.
Manhattanville continued to roll through the remainder of the first half and took their largest lead of the period when Felder hit a free throw to give the Valiants a 28-14 lead with 4:55 to go.
Junior Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) and freshman Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) each hit a basket as Manhattanville ended the period on a 4-2 run to take a 32-20 lead into the halftime break. In the first half alone, Hyjek snagged 13 rebounds (six offensive) while McSharar added eight (five offensive) of her own.
In the second half the Valiants got contributions from 11 players of the 14 that took to the floor in the stanza. The frame started off with a 5-0 run as Hyjek and Turner hit field goals while McSharar added a free throw of her own. After a jumper by Purchase, Manhattanville went on another eight-point run as Vaiano hit another pair of back-to-back threes in the stretch.
After opening up a 27-point lead on the last three-pointer by Vaiano, Purchase attempted to get back into the game with a 14-2 run to get the lead down to 15 on a layup with 11:42 remaining in the contest. After re-inserting the starting five back into the game after a timeout, the Valiants got right back to work with a T. Wilson jumper.
The Valiants continued to roll and finished off the 16-0 run with a free throw by freshman Shayna Robinson (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park). During the series Manhattanville racked up four steals, including a pair from McSharar and one each from Sullivan and Vaiano.
After Purchase broke the streak and got the game to 69-39, Manhattanville went on yet another run with seven straight points. The latest run was highlighted entirely by D. Wilson had one point, while freshman Leah Dagen (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) hit her lone jumper of the night and classmate Nicole Robinson (Greenburgh, N.Y./The Ursuline School) hit a pair of shots that resulted in the largest lead of the night for the crimson and white at 35 with 3:47 to go.
Manhattanville (5-7, 0-2 Freedom) will be in action next on Wednesday when they return to Freedom Conference play against FDU-Florham at 6:00 p.m. with all the game coverage available on WMVL 88.1 FM. Purchase (3-5, 0-2 Skyline) will also return to conference play when they take on NYU-Poly this Saturday at noon at home.
