PURCHASE, N.Y. - It was a dramatic finish in Kennedy Gymnasium as the Manhattanville College women's basketball team came from behind in the second half and held off the Lady Monarchs three times in the final 16 seconds to come away with their second conference win of the year 57-56 Saturday afternoon.
Senior Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) led Manhattanville with 16 points off the bench, including a stretch of eight consecutive points upon entering the game. Sophomore Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) also had a big game for the Valiants, scoring all 13 of her points in the second half, hauling in nine rebounds and adding two blocks and six steals as well. Freshman Nancy Caballero (Henderson, Nev./Liberty) also came close to a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The first half was a defensive struggle for both teams, as the two squads combined for 25 turnovers, with the Valiants coming away with nine steals in the first 20 minutes of action. Manhattanville got on the board first with two buckets from Caballero to take the early lead. It was back and forth the rest of the way in the first quarter however, as the teams traded buckets for much of the period. Deieso created a huge spark off the bench, scoring eight consecutive points to end the quarter as the Valiants held a 16-13 advantage at the first break.
King's found the shooting touch in the second quarter however, using a 9-0 run over the first 5:24 of the second quarter to take a six-point lead 22-16. The Lady Monarchs continued to expand the lead, hitting a three-pointer to push the lead to seven points with 4:30 to play in the half. A three-point play from Caballero cut the deficit down to four points at the halftime break, as the crimson and black trailed 29-25.
After a bucket from Kayla Feairheller, Manhattanville responded with a 6-0 run on six points from McGuire to tie the score 31-31. The Valiants took the lead momentarily on a McGuire layup, but pulled away to build a lead once again with a 7-0 run in less than one minute to go up by five. The home squad was able to push the lead to as many as ten points in the fourth quarter, but King's would not go down without a fight. Olivia Hoffman hit five straight buckets late in the game to retake the lead for the Lady Monarchs 56-55 with 1:23 to play. A missed three-pointer by the Lady Monarchs gave Manhattanville possession with 35 seconds to play. Out of a timeout McGuire gathered her own miss and was fouled for a trip to the free-throw line. The sophomore nailed both attempts to give the Valiants a one-point lead with 16.7 seconds to play.
It was an adventurous final 16 seconds, as King's had three opportunities to win it but the Valiant defense stood tall. After a timeout, Hoffman was unable to get a left-handed hook shot to fall and the Lady Monarchs used their final foul to give to stop the clock. On the impending inbounds play, the Valiants were called for a travel giving the Lady Monarchs possession under the hoop. On the inbounds play, Hoffman's layup attempt was blocked by McGuire and on the rebound, the Valiants were once again called for a travel with three seconds to play. On their final possession, Kayla Feairheller had a clean look from 15 feet but her jumper came up short and the Valiants held on for the one-point victory, 57-56.
Manhattanville moves back to .500 in MAC Freedom play with the win, improving to 6-8 on the year, 2-2 in conference play. King's falls to 2-12 with the loss, and remains winless in MAC Freedom action, now 0-3 on the year. Manhattanville will put that .500 record on the line when they travel to Delaware Valley on Wednesday for a 6:00 pm tip.
