NYACK, NY – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team dropped its first game of the 2018-19 season to the D-II Nyack College Warriors, 70-67, at Bowman Gymnasium on Wednesday Jan. 2.

Senior Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) led Manhattanville (10-1) with a game-high 24 points and six rebounds while sophomore Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) added 11 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Freshman Faith Johnson-DeSilvia joined McGuire and Coutu in double figures with 10 points, and sophomores Amanda Pemberton (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) & Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) combined for 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Yamilas Villegas had 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Nyack (3-9), one of four Warriors in double figures.

After Nyack scored the game's first point from the foul line, Manhattanville answered with the game's first run, scoring eight straight points via three-pointers from Coutu and Shore and a jumper from McGuire. Nyack went more than five minutes from the opening tip without a field goal before back-to-back baskets, including an eventual three-point play, trimmed the Valiants lead to 8-6. Manhattanville answered with the next seven points, with baskets from sophomore Jykayla Elting (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and McGuire bookending another Coutu three-pointer. Nyack countered with six straight points of their own, but the Valiants ended the quarter on a high note with a layup from McGuire for a 17-12 lead.

McGuire's lay-up provided the first two of seven straight points for the Valiants after they scored the first five points of the second quarter. The teams traded baskets the next few minutes as Manhattanville slowly opened a double-digit lead. After Nyack brought the Manhattanville lead back to single digits at 30-21, the Valiants answered with a 10-2 spurt, opening a 17-point advantage, 40-23. The Warriors ended the half with back-to-back layups as Manhattanville carried a 42-29 lead to the locker room.

Nyack controlled most of the third quarter, outscoring Manhattanville 20-11, closing the Valiants lead to 53-49. The Warriors eventually came all the way back and tied the game at 56 early in the final quarter. After Torie Eggers' three was answered by a McGuire three-point play, Ellie Nittinger answered with another three for Nyack.  Kyla Given converted a three-point play on Coutu's fifth foul of the evening for a 65-60 Warriors' lead. Nittinger added two more off an offensive rebound for a 67-60 edge. Mikaele converted a three-point play with 63 seconds remaining, bringing the Valiants back within four. After the Valiants forced a turnover, Amanda Pemberton (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) made two free throws, making it a one-possession game, 67-65. After Torrie Eggers made one of two from the foul line, Manhattanville had a look to tie, but Johnson-DeSilvia's three-pointer fell short and Villegas made two more from the line. McGuire added a lay-up in the final seconds, but the Valiants fell three points short.

Manhattanville returns home to Kennedy Gymnasium this Saturday, Jan. 5 for its final non-conference game of the season against the Bloodhounds from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.