Box Score WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Led by juniors
Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) and
Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington), the Manhattanville women's basketball team walked away from Wilkes University on Saturday afternoon with a crucial Freedom Conference victory, winning by a final score of 57-44.
Pabon led the Valiants in scoring by contributing a team-high 16 points while Caiazzo picked up yet another double-double on the season, tallying 13 points and 17 rebounds.
The win was a big one for Manhattanville (9-12, 4-6 Freedom) in the race for the postseason, as the victory and Misericordia's loss to DeSales has the Valiants sitting in fifth place. Wilkes (5-15, 2-8 Freedom) still resides near the bottom of the conference standings after the loss to the Valiants.
Despite the Colonels jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the early minutes of the contest, Manhattanville out played Wilkes for most of the afternoon. After Elena Stambone knocked down three of her game-high 19 points, Wilkes tied the game up at eight with 13:31 remaining in the first half. The three from Stambone triggered a Manhattanville rush, as the Valiants went on a 13-2 run in the next eight minutes, jumping out to a 21-10 lead with 5:50 left before halftime.
Manhattanville went into the locker room with an eight-point lead over Wilkes, 27-19.
The Valiants started off the second half strong, as sophomore
Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) knocked down a three-pointer to give Manhattanville a 30-19 lead with 19:22 left. Stambone tried to be the Colonels answer all afternoon, pulling Wilkes within eight with a three of her own as 17:33 remained, making it 32-24. The eight-point deficit for the Colonels was the closest they would come to the Valiants in the second half.
Manhattanville led by as many as 16 points in the second half before cruising to a 57-44 road win. The Valiants dominated the paint by scoring 30 points on the interior, while Wilkes only finished with six points inside.
The Valiants finished the game shooting 37.3 percent (22-59) as Wilkes struggled to get much going offensively, shooting 22.2 percent (14-63).
Manhattanville will next play at home on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m., as the Valiants take on DeSales in a pivotal Freedom Conference matchup with playoff implications on the line. Live stats and live video can be found on GoValiants.com.
