PURCHASE, NY –Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) and
Sam Milazzo (Bellmore, N.Y./John F Kennedy) celebrated their Senior Day in style on Saturday afternoon, as Milazzo poured in a career-high 22 points and Darnell grabbed 12 rebounds, pacing a balanced attack for the Manhattanville College women's basketball team in a 70-45 win over Eastern.
Freshman
Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) added 14 points for Manhattanville (18-5, 8-4 MACF), while sophomore
Nancy Caballero (Henderson, Nev./Liberty) posted her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Freshman
Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) added nine points on a trio of three-pointers as well.
The Valiants remained in a three-way tie in the MAC Freedom with DeSales and Misericordia, against whom Manhattanville ends the regular season next Saturday, for third place in the MAC Freedom standings.
The first quarter was tightly contested, with neither team leading by more than three points at any point. Milazzo scored Manhattanville's first six points and eight of its first 12, but Taylor Price had eight of her own to pace Eastern (4-19, 1-11 MACF) as the two teams ended the quarter tied at 15. Price finished the game with 22 points, the only Eagle in double figures.
The Valiants scored the first seven points of the second quarter, then, after Eastern trimmed the margin to 25-20 at the midway point, Manhattanville responded with 16 of the final 17 points of the period, nearly doubling the Eagles at the half, 41-21. Milazzo finished the half with 12, while Caballero was well on her way to the double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Manhattanville started the third quarter much like the second, starting on an 8-0 run, then tacked on a 10-0 run to end the quarter. In all, Manhattanville outscored Eastern 48-14 over the second and third quarters.
With the game well in hand for Manhattanville, Milazzo set her scoring mark on a lay-up with 2:39 to play after grabbing her game-high sixth offensive rebound. Manhattanville finished the game with a 53-26 rebound advantage, its 13th game this season with a double-digit edge on the glass.
Manhattanville faces a tough road test on Tuesday when it travels to New Jersey for a date with FDU-Florham, the top team in the MAC Freedom. Tip time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
