Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team trailed by double-figures late in the second half and were able to pull within two, but the DeSales Bulldogs were able to hold on for the 74-71 victory at Kennedy Gym on Wednesday evening.
 
The Valiants had three players reach double-figures as senior Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) netted a game-high 26, while sophomore Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington) added 10. Sophomore Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) had yet another superb performance with 24 points, and also had another 19 rebounds for her team-leading 240 on the year.
 
The Bulldogs started off the contest up 6-0 after several Valiant turnovers gave the ball away to DeSales. Just over three minutes into the contest the Valiants got on the board as Caiazzo converted on a layup and hit the and-one free throw to trim the lead in half at 6-3.
 
On the next offensive possession, Pabon missed one from the outside but Wilson pulled down the rebound and stepped back to make a three-pointer and even the game at six with 16:04 to go in the opening half.
 
From there the lead continued belong to DeSales at short two-point clips, until the Valiants tied it at 10. It was Wilson again on the ensuing possession to drain her second three-pointer of the night to give the home team its first lead at 13-10. Caiazzo then increased the lead with a layup and put Manhattanville up by five.
 
Several minutes later the two teams exchanged the lead when Faith Gilbert hit a shot from downtown to regain a 17-15 edge for her squad, but Pabon drilled one of her own at the other end of the floor to put Manhattanville back up by one.
 
DeSales scored and played strong defensive basketball during the following possessions and took its largest lead of the half at five, but the feisty Valiants refused their opponents to pull away any further and answered back with several strong possessions of their own.
 
With 3:44 to go in the half, the Valiants regained the lead as Caiazzo took a pass in the lane from freshman Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) for the easy go-ahead layup. The lead continued to seesaw back-and-forth and the game fittingly went to halftime tied at 36, as both sides put up layups in the final 31 seconds.
 
In the second half, Manhattanville broke the tie immediately as Pabon pulled off another three-pointer, several possessions later freshman Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) got in on the scoring and drilled a three-pointer as wee to put the Valiants up 42-38.
 
The lead tilted back in favor of DeSales as they rattled off a 13-0 run and opened up a 59-46 edge.  Manhattanville sank a response to end the run, but then both sides endured a long drought of no scoring as nearly one and a half minute ticked off the clock before Colleen Gavin put up a jumper to increase the lead to 13.
 
Through the final five minutes, Manhattanville began a feverish run in attempts to get back into the contest as Wilson spearheaded a run, which included three three-point baskets, Caiazzo and Franklin chipped in with several points of their own to pull within two at 73-71.
 
The Valiants were only able to pull the trigger on two shots including one from Pabon, who missed a potential game-tying three-point basket with next to no time remaining. The final buzzer sounded as DeSales was able to hang on for the win.
 
Manhattanville (8-9, 1-6 Freedom) will look to snap it's two-game skid against the Eastern Eagles at home on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with coverage of the game available on GoValiants.com. DeSales (12-6, 4-3 Freedom) will return home for a matchup with the King's Lady Monarchs at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.