PURCHASE, N.Y. - Senior
Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington) continued to etch her name in the Manhattanville College record books, setting a new mark for career steals as the Valiant defense forced 32 turnovers en route to a 59-53 win over Maine Maritime Tuesday afternoon.
Pabon finished the day with 15 points, six assists, and seven steals to give her 265 thefts for her career as she passed
Simona Gordon '11 for the top spot on the career steals list, surpassing the 259 mark Gordon set five seasons ago.
The Valiants (9-3 overall) caught a bit of the winter cold early in the contest, missing several shots and were held scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the game. After falling behind 7-0 to the Mariners (5-5 overall), the Valiants went on a 10-3 run to close the quarter to even the score after the first 10 minutes of action.
Manhattanville was forced to play catch-up once again in the second quarter, trailing by as many as 11 points midway through the quarter before using a 12-2 run to close the frame, and headed into the locker room trailing by just one at 27-26.
The Valiants continued to chip away at Maine Maritime in the second half, but still found themselves trailing by four with one minute remaining in the third quarter before senior
Ashley Raaf (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./Christ The King) hit a pair of free throws that sparked a 6-0 run that continued into the fourth quarter to give Manhattanville the lead at 47-45.
After a made free-throw from Alayne Felix, Manhattanville responded with five straight points to give the home team its biggest lead of the game at 52-46. After a 6-2 run from the Mariners cut the lead to two, the Valiant defense stepped up and forced two huge turnovers in the final 30 seconds to put the game away for good.
Three Manhattanville starters reached double-figures as Pabon finished with 15, Raaf with 13, and senior
Ashley Franklin (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) rounding out the senior trio with 10 points to go with nine rebounds.
Manhattanville will look to use the win as a momentum builder as they head into MAC Freedom play next week. The Valiants travel to Pennsylvania on Wednesday, January 13 to take on Delaware Valley to begin a stretch of eight consecutive conference matchups. Tip-off for that contest is set for 6:00 P.M.
