Box Score ST. DAVID'S, Pa. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team needed to pick up a win against Eastern to stay close in the Freedom Conference standings, as the Valiants dominated the Eagles on the road with a 76-61 victory Saturday afternoon.
 
Four Valiants finished in double-figures as Manhattanville (8-11 overall, 3-5 Freedom) now sits tied with Misericorida for the fifth place spot in the Freedom Conference. Eastern (11-8 overall, 6-2 Freedom) was not ready for the stellar play of the Valiants after already having beat Manhattanville by 28 points in early December.
 
Sophomore Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) led the way for the Valiants by scoring a game-high 21 points, shooting a remarkable 53.8 percent (7-13) mark from the floor. Helping Raaf offensively was classmate Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) and freshman Candice Scott-Mason (Trenton, N.J./Ewing), finishing with 18 and 17, respectively. Junior Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington) was the fourth Manhattanville player to finish in double-figures, tallying 14 points against the Eagles.
 
Manhattanville controlled the game right off the tip-off by scoring the first six points of the game. Eastern, sitting at second place in the Freedom Conference, was outplayed by the Valiants for the most part on Saturday afternoon.. After three made free throws by Franklin with 17:21 left in the first half, the Valiants held a 9-2 lead.
 
Eastern pulled the game within three points when Meghan Nowak scored two of her team-high 17 points, banking in a layup to make it 11-8 with 15:03 left. The Valiants went on a tear after the layup by Nowak, jumping out on an 11-0 run and taking a 22-8 lead with 11:30 to go in the first half.
 
The Valiants led by as many as 14 points in the first half before heading into the locker room with a 37-25 lead. Manhattanville shot a stifling 46.7 percent (14-30) mark in the first half as Raaf, Franklin and Scott-Mason already had 10 points each.
 
As the second half started, Manhattanville had to be aware of the potent Eastern offense that was hoping to take over. Despite the Valiants scoring the first two points of the second half on a layup by Scott-Mason, the Eagles pulled the game within two by going on an 11-0 run, making it 39-37 with 16:13 left.
 
Manhattanville started having some issues defensively as the Eagles started to take advantage of the Valiants. After two made free throws by Raff with 14:42 left, the Valiants held a 45-41 lead. The four-point lead for the Valiants would quickly diminish as the Eagles went on a 9-0 run, helping them take their first lead of the day with 11:24 to go, 49-45. 

The Valiants answered the Eagles run by going on one of their own. Manhattanville went on an 18-4 run, taking back a double-digit lead with 6:07 left, 64-53. The Valiants led by as many as 16 points in the late moments of the second half, as Manhattanville picked up its third Freedom Conference victory with a 76-61 win over the Eagles
 
Manhattanville finished the day shooting an impressive 44.6 percent (25-56) from the floor while the Eagles shot just 32 percent (24-75).
 
The Valiants will next play on Wednesday night against the Freedom Conference's top team #7 FDU-Florham (19-0, 9-0 Freedom) inside Kennedy Gym at 6:00 p.m. Live stats and live video can be found on GoValiants.com