CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Despite four players in double figures, the Manhattanville College women's basketball team dropped a 69-60 MAC Freedom contest to DeSales University Wednesday night, missing out on a season series sweep for the first time since joining the conference in 2007-08.

Senior Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) scored all 10 of her points in the first half for Manhattanville (15-4, 5-3 MAC Freedom), then was joined by sophomore Kymane Jones (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville ), who finished with 11, and freshmen Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) and Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton), who finished with 12 and 11 respectively. Junior Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Morgan Birmelin scored a game-high 15 points for DeSales (11-9, 6-3 MAC Freedom), while Molly Jansco added 14, Leandra Sterner added 13, and Jillian Martin added 13 and 10 rebounds for the game's only double-double.

The two sides struggled to break away from each other in the first half, with neither side holding a lead larger than five points. Manhattanville opened up a 10-point lead with 3:23 left in the third quarter, but DeSales closed the quarter on a 9-3 run, cutting Manhattanville's lead to 57-53 heading to the fourth quarter.

After the Bulldogs tied the game at 57, McGuire responded with a three-point play to push the Valiants back in front. From there, the Valiants were held scoreless the rest of the way, as DeSales finished the game on a 12-0 run, led by five points from Martin and four from Sterner.

The Valiants return to Kennedy Gymnasium this Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. tip with Wilkes University.