ST. DAVID'S, Pa.- Senior Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Saviour) finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds against Eastern on Wednesday night, but the Valiants were unable to take down the Eagles in Freedom Conference play, falling by a final score of 71-65.
 
In the contest, Caiazzo was the catalyst of the Manhattanville (10-6, 1-4 Freedom) offense, shooting an effective 64 percent (9-of-14) from the floor against Eastern (12-4, 4-1 Freedom). As for the Eagles, Meghan Nowak and Gina DiDomenico led the way, scoring 19 and 15 points, respectively. Senior Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington) added an additional 19 points for Manhattanville in the loss.
 
Both teams were even for majority of the first half until the Eagles began to catch fire. Nowak scored 16 of her 19 points in the first half of play, helping Eastern pull away late in the half. The Valiants only led once in the contest, coming at the 15:43 mark, as Manhattanville controlled a 6-5 lead after a layup from Caiazzo. With the Valiants trailing by one with just over 14 minutes left in the first half, the Eagles strung together a 17-6 run, putting them up by 12 with 5:27 remaining. The Valiants tried chipping away at their deficit for the remainder of the half, but eventually went into halftime trailing 34-20.
 
Manhattanville looked like an entirely different team to start off the second half, as the Valiants jumped out on a 15-2 run, pulling them within one point to the Eagles. With the Valiants trailing 36-35 with under 14 minutes left, the Eagles answered with a run of their own, scoring 14 unanswered points, taking a 50-35 lead before Manhattanville could finally score. For the remainder of the contest, the Valiants applied pressure with the hopes of a major comeback, but Eastern continued to knock down shots. Despite finishing the game on a 14-4 run, Manhattanville ran out of time before falling to Eastern by a final score of 71-65.
 
The Valiants will play next on Saturday when they travel to take on King's (Pa.) in Freedom Conference play at 1 p.m. Live stats are available via GoValiants.com.