PURCHASE, N.Y. – A scoreless second quarter doomed Manhattanville as the Valiants were unable to overcome the height advantage of the Cardinals of Wesleyan University Tuesday evening, falling in non-conference action 57-50 at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Sophomore Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) led the way for Manhattanville (3-2) with a double-double on 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Fellow classmate Ivy Coles (Freeport, N.Y./Christ The King) also finished in double figures with 13 points on the night and junior Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) hauled in a team-best 11 rebounds on the night. For the Cardinals (2-3), Tara Berger dropped a game-high 21 points.
 
The Valiants got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 10-point lead on a layup by senior Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) with 3:57 to play in the first quarter, but Manhattanville went ice cold offensively from there, making just one more bucket, a layup from junior Sam Milazzo (Bellmore, N.Y./John F Kennedy) with 32 seconds remaining in the opening frame before going scoreless for the final 10:32 of the first half.  The Valiants went 0-10 from the field in the quarter, turning the ball over 13 times as the Cardinals ended the half on a 23-2 run to come from behind and take a 28-17 lead into the halftime break.
 
Manhattanville got hot to begin the second half however, cutting the deficit to three points thanks in part to an 8-0 run on 4-4 shooting to begin the half.  That was as close as they would come the rest of the way however, as the Cardinals stretched it to a 12-point lead with 1:10 to play.  The Valiants cut the deficit to six points with 11seconds to play but it was too little too late as Wesleyan held on for the 57-50 win.
 
The Valiants will look to turn the ship around in nine days when they host SUNY Oneonta in their final home game of 2016 beginning at 6:00 pm.