WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Senior Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) dropped a season-high 22 points and sophomore Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) added 10 points for Manhattanville as the Valiants took down Wilkes University 67-57 Saturday afternoon to improve to 5-3 in MAC Freedom play this season.
 
The Valiants found the shooting touch inside Henry Gymnasium Saturday, shooting 49 percent from the field and scoring 43 of their 67 points from outside the paint, while holding Wilkes to just 33 percent shooting from the field.
 
Manhattanville (13-5, 5-3 MAC Freedom) got off to a hot start Saturday, using an 11-0 run in the first quarter to take an eight-point lead over the Lady Colonels (3-16 overall, 0-8 MAC Freedom).  Raaf led the charge with two three-pointers in the stretch to give Manhattanville a lead they would not lose the rest of the way.
 
Wilkes would chip away at the lead at the end of the quarter, eventually cutting the deficit to two 12 seconds into the second quarter, but Manhattanville would respond with two big baskets from sophomore Candice Scott-Mason (Trenton, N.J./Ewing) to cap a six-point burst for the Valiants.
 
An eight-point run for Manhattanville would extend the lead to 14 points, their largest lead of the afternoon, midway through the third quarter.  Wilkes would continue to battle back however, outscoring Manhattanville 29-19 over the next 14:12 of action.  Eight Manhattanville turnovers would allow Cara Basile to score 11 points over the stretch and cut the deficit back down to four points with just over two minutes to play. 
 
Senior Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) would hit a layup to push the lead back to six points, before Raaf hit a three-pointer to put the game out of reach for Manhattanville. 
 
 
For Darnell, her 10 points were her highest output since the season-opener against Keuka College in which she netted 15 points.  Raaf finished the day three for three from beyond the arc and five of six from the charity stripe for her season-high total of 22.  Senior Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) and freshman Kaylean McGuire, along with Raaf and Darnell all hauled in seven rebounds on the day. 
 
Manhattanville returns to action Wednesday, February 3 when they host Delaware Valley.  Both the Manhattanville women's and men's teams will play that game in support of the Quinn for the Win Foundation after the previously scheduled support game was snowed out.  All ticket sales and donations collected Wednesday evening will be donated to Pat Quinn's foundation, which supports ALS research.