Box Score MADISON, N.J. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team gave a bit of a scare to 10/11th-ranked FDU-Florham on Wednesday night before falling by a final score of 78-64 in the Freedom Conference matchup.
 
Behind the stellar play of junior Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington) finishing with a team-high 19 points, the Valiants battled the Devils until the final buzzer. Manhattanville even held a one-point lead with under 15 minutes remaining before FDU-Florham prevailed.
 
For the Devils, Kyra Dayon was the difference on the offensive end for the 10/11th-ranked team in the nation. Dayon shot 46.7 percent (7-15), tallying 20 points and six rebounds to keep FDU-Florham undefeated.
 
The Devils came out strong off the opening tip-off by scoring the first five points, but as the game digressed, Manhattanville never backed down.
 
After a three-point basket made by sophomore Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career), the Valiants notched the game up at seven with 15:46 remaining in the first half. After the three by Franklin, the Devils went on a 16-3 run to take a 23-10 lead with 9:25 left in the first half.
 
The Valiants trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half before Pabon and the Valiants started to regroup offensively, pouring on a comeback. Pabon started gaining a rhythm, which sparked the rest of the team as Manhattanville only trailed by six headed into halftime, 38-32.
 
An upset alert was intact as the second half got underway. The Valiants scored the first four points and pulled within two after sophomore Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) turned a steal into an easy layup, making it 38-36 with 18:53 to go.
 
After a three from Dayon to increase the lead back to five for the Devils, Manhattanville answered with six straight points, taking its first lead of the game with 15:35 remaining, 42-41.
 
The nerves were evident on the Devils bench as FDU-Florham was in need of a timeout to stop the Valiant pursuit.
 
The Devils took the lead back from the Valiants after the timeout with a three from their go-to girl, Dayon. FDU-Florham led 44-42 with 15 minutes left and would not look back.
 
The Valiants major presence down low, junior Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour), picked up her fourth foul with 14 minutes left, proving to be a major issue for Manhattanville. As Caiazzo was forced to sit on the bench with foul trouble, the Devils went on a 20-5 run to pull ahead by 13 points with 8:14 remaining, 61-48.

Manhattanville trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half before falling to the 10/11th-ranked team in the nation. The Valiants committed 29 turnovers, leading to 36 points. Manhattanville also struggled to rebound the ball, giving up 30 offensive rebounds as the Devils scored 29 second-chance points.
 
The Valiants shot an impressive 55.3 percent (26-47) mark from the floor while the Devils had exactly 40 more chances, shooting 34.5 percent (30-87).
 
The 4-9 overall (0-3 Freedom) Valiants will finally come back home on Saturday with a game against Wilkes at 1:00 p.m. after playing their last five contests on the road. The Freedom Conference matchup can be followed on GoValiants.com