Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – Despite catching fire in the early minutes of the second half, the Manhattanville women's basketball team could not close out DeSales on Wednesday night, falling by a final score of 65-51 inside Kennedy Gym.
 
Juniors Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington) and Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) led the way for the Valiants by contributing 16 and 14 points, respectively. Caiazzo also tallied her 16th double-double of the season by grabbing a game-high 19 rebounds.
 
Manhattanville (9-13, 4-7 Freedom) is now three games behind Delaware Valley for the fourth and final spot of the Freedom Conference playoff picture with only three games left on the schedule. DeSales (18-4, 8-3 Freedom) still remains in second place after the win over the Valiants.
 
For DeSales, Sondrine Glovas was the difference maker by scoring a game-high 22 points to go along with 15 rebounds. Helping Glovas was teammate Alexiah Grant, finishing with 17 points. 
 
The Valiants struggled offensively in the first half, not scoring a basket until the 14:13 mark when it was sophomore Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) banking in a layup. Until the basket by Franklin, the Bulldogs had already posted seven points on the scoreboard. 
 
The made basket by Franklin did not slow down the Bulldogs as DeSales jumped out to a 17-2 lead with 11:13 left in the first half. DeSales led by as many as 18 points in the first half before Manhattanville started to gather rhythm offensively. The Valiants went into halftime trailing the Bulldogs by 12 points, 36-24.
 
Manhattanville needed a spark in the second half and it started after a layup by Caiazzo :55 seconds in, cutting the Valiants deficit to 10 points, 36-26. The Valiants caught fire in the second half by sparking a 13-2 run in the opening minutes, pulling the game within one point as 15:10 remained, 38-37.
 
The Valiants kept the game close for a significant portion of the second half, but it was evident that Manhattanville's depth became an issue late in the game. After another layup by Caiazzo battling inside the paint, the Valiants only trailed by four with 9:08 left, 46-42. DeSales answered the Caiazzo layup by scoring the next six points, increasing the lead back to 10 points with 7:28 left when the Bulldogs answer Glovas knocked down a jump shot. 
 
As the Bulldogs jumped out to a double-digit lead in the late minutes of the second half, they would never look back. The DeSales bench was vital in the Bulldogs victory, tallying 19 points compared to zero from the Valiants reserves. Manhattanville had issues keeping up with the Bulldogs down the stretch, as DeSales pulled out the crucial 65-51 Freedom Conference win, remaining in second place behind FDU-Florham.
 
Manhattanville shot 31.8 percent (21-66) from the floor and just 26.3 percent (5-19) from beyond the arc while DeSales finished shooting 37.5 percent (27-72).
 
The Valiants will have to play with their backs against the wall, as every game is a must-win from here on out. Manhattanville will take on King's (Pa.) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a pivotal Freedom Conference matchup. Live stats and live video can be found through GoValiants.com.