PURCHASE, N.Y. - In their final non-conference clash of the season, the Manhattanville College women's basketball was able to end their four-game skid with a 69-57 victory over the Hawks of Hunter College Monday evening inside Kennedy Gymnasium.
It was a career night for three Valiants. Sophomore Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) had another big game for Manahttanville, finishing with a new career-best 20 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Sophomore Ivy Coles (Freeport, N.Y./Christ The King) followed suit with a new career-best 19 points, and junior Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) was a force on the glass for the Valiants, ripping down a career-high 16 rebounds.
Jade Aponte was red-hot from the floor for the Hawks in the opening period, scoring the first seven Hunter points of the contest. The Valiants were able to control the rest of the Hunter offense however, building up a seven point lead behind eight points from McGuire and eight Hunter turnovers in the opening stanza.
A late layup by Christine Patterson sparked a 6-0 run for Hunter as the Hawks cut the Manhattanville lead down to one point, 16-15 less than one minute into the second period. The Hawks eventually tied the game at the 6:54 mark when Aponte converted a three-point play for Hunter. The Valiants immediately responded however, using a layup from senior Jazmin Pryce (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster) and three points from fellow senior Sarah Kelley (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) to take a five-point lead midway through the quarter. Aponte scored another five points over the final three minutes of the half, finishing the opening 20 minutes of action with 15 points, one above her season average. Trading buckets over the final few minutes, Manhattanville took a 30-27 lead into the halftime break.
Manhattanville held a huge advantage on the glass in the opening half, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds, 25 total, matching the 12 rebound total for the Hawks.
The Valiants began the second half much like the first, using the defense to build another big lead. Four turnovers by the Hawks and 66 percent shooting (6-of-9) to begin the half led to a 12-0 run for Manhattanville as they took a 42-27 lead at the 5:08 mark of the third quarter and they never looked back from there. Coles scored nine points over the final 15 minutes to better her previous career-high of 15 points, a mark she has reached twice this season. McGuire used late free-throws to eclipse her career-high, and Darnell bettered her previous career-high of 12 rebounds with her 13th board at the 6:27 mark of the final quarter.
The Valiants will need to keep the momentum going on Wednesday when they host first-place DeSales University to Kennedy Gymnasium at 6:00 pm in the first part of a Valiant hoops doubleheader.
