PURCHASE, NY – Freshman
Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) scored all of her season-high 14 points in the second half as the Manhattanville College women's basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter, beating Wilkes University 63-45 Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gymnasium.
Sophomore
Kymane Jones (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville ) added 12 points and a team-high four assists and junior
Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Manhattanville (16-4, 6-3 MACF). Chelsea Erkes had 13 points to lead Wilkes (4-17, 0-10 MACF), and Alyssa Alfano added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Wilkes grabbed a 10-5 lead off five points from Gianna Roberts and three points from Emily Sofranko, but the Valiants ended the first quarter with four straight free throws, two each from Jones and senior
Sam Milazzo (Bellmore, N.Y./John F Kennedy).
The Valiants continued their run in the second quarter, scoring the first six points to grab a 15-10 lead. The two teams traded baskets over the final seven minutes of the half, as Manhattanville took a 26-19 lead to the locker room.
Wilkes scored the first five points of the third quarter to close the gap to 26-24, but Manhattanville responded with a 10-4 run to push the lead up to eight just past the midway point of the frame. After each side traded three-pointers and free throws, Alfano added two more free throws for Wilkes, trimming Manhattanville's lead to 41-35 entering the final quarter.
That was as close as the Lady Colonels got the rest of the way, as the Valiants opened up a double-digit lead with 6:24 to play, and maintained at least a nine-point advantage to the three-minute mark. With the score 52-41 and 3:02 to play, Shore scored eight unanswered points as Manhattanville pushed its lead to 60-41 with just over a minute to play. Manhattanville finished the final 10 minutes outscoring Wilkes 22-10.
The Valiants continue MAC Freedom play on Monday night against Misericordia, with opening tip scheduled for 7:00 p.m.