PURCHASE, N.Y. – Leading for all but the opening three seconds, the Manhattanville College women's basketball team extended its winning streak to five and continued a historic season start to the 2017-18 season with a 79-42 victory over Bard College at Kennedy Gymnasium on Monday night.

Three players reached double figures for Manhattanville (6-1). Freshman Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) netted 16 points to go with six assists and three steals, junior Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) added 13 points and a team-leading eight rebounds, and sophomore Kymane Jones (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville ) had an excellent all-around game with 10 points, eight assists and five steals. With the win, this year's team now trails only the 1982-83 and 1975-76 teams, both of which started the season 8-1, for the best start to a year in program history.  

The Valiants started the game on a 13-2 run, thanks to five points from McGuire and four points from senior Sam Milazzo (Bellmore, N.Y./John F Kennedy). McGuire finished the quarter with nine, with Jones adding six as Manhattanville opened a 23-8 lead after 10 minutes.

Four different Valiants scored during an 8-0 run to open the second quarter, as Manhattanville held Bard (0-7) without a point for more than 3:30. After the Raptors added one and the Valiants added two from the foul line, both sides went cold, each going scoreless nearly three minutes before layups by Coutu and Jones pushed Manhattanville's lead to 28 points. A 5-0 run in 52 seconds by Bard cut Manhattanville's lead to 23, but layups by Coutu, sophomore Nancy Caballero (Henderson, Nev./Liberty), and a buzzer-beating jumper by freshman Amanda Pemberton (Henderson, Nev./Liberty) gave the Valiants a 43-14 lead at the half.

Coutu went on a personal 10-0 run in the third quarter as Manhattanville's lead increased to 40. DiCaprio and Erin Kennedy countered with a combined 14 points as the Raptors trimmed the gap to 36 by the end of the quarter.

The teams traded mini-runs back and forth in the final quarter, with Manhattanville's lead fluctuating between 34 and 41 points. The Valiants finished the game holding the Raptors to 28.3 percent from the field, their fifth straight game holding an opponent below 30 percent, while the home team shot 49.3 percent (35-for-71) from the field.

The Valiants are back in action on the road Wednesday night at Wesleyan, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.