Box Score WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team needed to pick up a win against King's (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon to keep any hopes alive of making the Freedom Conference Tournament, but instead the Valiants fell to the Lady Monarchs in a heartbreaking one-point loss, 72-71.
 
Manhattanville (9-14, 4-8 Freedom) is now officially eliminated from Freedom Conference oostseason contention after the loss to King's (Pa.) (6-17, 2-10 Freedom), as the Valiants are now four games out with only two games left to play.
 
Junior Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) led the way for Manhattanville by scoring a game-high 23 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Sophomores Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) and Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) each finished with 16 points for the Valiants.
 
As for the Lady Monarchs, five players finished in double-figures including Marissa Manning tallying a team-high 20 points.
 
King's (Pa.) jumped out early on the Valiants by scoring the first five points of the game, all of which came from Kayla Feairheller who finished with 10 points. Whenever there was a deficit for Manhattanville, the Valiants battled back all game, keeping the contest close.
 
After Raaf connected on a jump shot at the 13:15 mark in the first half, the Valiants held their biggest lead of the half by five points, 14-9.  Raaf knocked down another shot with 10:21 left in the first, making it 20-16 in favor of the Valiants. The four-point lead by Manhattanville would quickly diminish as the Lady Monarchs went on a 12-1 run, taking a 28-21 lead with under five minutes left in the first.
 
Manhattanville answered the Lady Monarchs spurt by finishing the half on a 12-5 run, tying the game up at 33 points headed into halftime.
 
The Valiants jumped out early in the second half, scoring the first four points with two layups inside by Caiazzo, making it 37-33 Manhattanville. Neither team could gain a definitive edge over the other until there was only 5:29 left when King's (Pa.) held its biggest lead of the day by eight points, 59-51.
 
Manhattanville was forced to chip away at the Lady Monarchs lead for the remainder of the second half, helped by the stellar late-game effort of Franklin. Franklin scored nine points down the stretch, putting the Valiants in a position to make an impressive comeback. As Franklin knocked down two free throws with 1:37 left, Manhattanville only trailed the Lady Monarchs by three points, 66-63. Caiazzo then scored on a second-chance layup with 1:01 left, bringing the game within one point, 66-65.
 
The Lady Monarchs were forced to knock down their free throws late in the game, coming up clutch in the final minute of play. King's (Pa.) connected on all its free throws with under 20 seconds remaining, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity strike. Raaf knocked down a three-pointer with time expiring, but it did not matter as the Lady Monarchs defeated the Valiants by one, 72-71.
 
The Valiants could not outlast the Lady Monarchs despite shooting a stifling 45.5 percent (30-66) from the floor. King's (Pa.) finished shooting 40 percent (26-65).
 
Manhattanville plays next on Tuesday night against Delaware Valley inside Kennedy Gym at 6:00 p.m. Live stats and live video can be found on GoValiants.com