PURCHASE, N.Y. – A big boost coming out of halftime helped propel the Manhattanville women's basketball team past Wilkes University, 61-45, in MAC Freedom action on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gymnasium.

"We really got it together defensively and offensively and got into our rhythm and played our game," stated Manhattanville head coach Kate Vlahakis. "Everybody was getting touches and it was an awesome team win tonight to give us confidence going into this break."

The Valiants got off to a slow start as the host team trailed 11-7 after the first 10 minutes of play. Vlahakis made a few simple adjustments during the break and the Valiants responded with a 12-2 run to start the quarter.

"Coach told us to get back on defense and start transitioning," commented senior guard Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington).

Manhattanville would go into the locker-room leading by four. Then the Valiants came out of the break firing on all cylinders as they sparked a 13-4 run in the first five minutes of the third.

"At halftime we talked about what we needed to do and we came out hard," continued Pabon. "We wanted to win tonight and Wilkes is a good team so we just had to put it to them."

Manhattanville (5-2, 1-1 MAC Freedom) would build its lead up to 15 at the end of the third. The women cagers would go on to cruise to a 16 point win over the Lady Colonels.

A big key in the Valiants' first conference win of the season was their ability to take advantage of opportunities. Wilkes caused 29 Manhattanville turnovers but only scored 13 points off of those turnovers, while the Valiants were able to convert 27 Lady Colonels' turnovers into 31 points.

"One our biggest focus is defense," said Vlahakis. "We always tell them our offense is going to come from our defense. After we made that adjustment we were talking , rotating to ball, getting tips and playing really good team basketball on the defensive end and that really amplified our offense. It was good to see that come together."

Manhattanville won the rebound battle 43-37 and scored 38 of its 61 points in the paint.

Wilkes (1-6, 0-2 MAC Freedom) was led by senior Cara Basile and junior Jamie Campbell who each netted a game-high 11 points. Basile also grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Lady Colonels.

For the Valiants it was a balanced attack that helped Manhattanville snap a two game losing streak against Wilkes. Seniors Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) and Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) along with junior Candice Scott-Mason (Trenton, N.J./Ewing) all recorded 10 points. Pabon and freshman Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) each had six points while juniors Sarah Kelley (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) accounted for five and Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) netted four points. Franklin led the team in rebounds with seven while sophomore Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) and Raaf grabbed six boards. Pabon also accounted for eight assists and three steals in the win.

Manhattanville will take a week off for finals before resuming non-conference play when the Valiants travel to Oneonta State on December 14 for a 7 p.m. game.

"This was a big confidence game for us," concluded the Valiant mentor. "Going into a break it's always nice coming off of a win. We still have work to do but it makes these guys believe and it shows them what they are capable of on a really good night when they're all working together. Believing and confidence is a huge thing with our group and this was a big win for us."