PURCHASE, N.Y. – Senior Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and sophomore Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) went a combined 21-for-26 from the foul line on their way to a combined 46 points for the Manhattanville College women's basketball team Wednesday, Jan. 9 in a 66-60 win in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play over the King's College Monarchs.

McGuire tied her season highs in points (24) and rebounds (12) while Coutu added 22 points and six rebounds for Manhattanville (12-1, 3-0 MACF). Sophomore Jykayla Elting (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) added eight points, five rebounds, and two blocks while senior Geena Catalano (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) added six points in just seven minutes off the bench. Samantha Rajza, Alexis Steeber and Rebecca Prociak all had 15 for King's (7-7, 1-2 MACF), but the other Monarchs combined to shoot just 23.8 percent (5-21) from the floor.

Mackenzie Yori had four points as the Monarchs built a 9-2 lead in the opening 3:11. Manhattanville eventually trimmed the lead to 13-9, but Rajza answered with a three-pointer, putting King's back up by seven with 2:28 left in the opening quarter. Manhattanville dominated the rest of the quarter, going on a 9-0 run to take an 18-16 lead, back-to-back lay-ups from Catalano capping the charge.

Coutu made the lead 20-16 with a jumper to open the second quarter, but King's responded with 10 straight points, taking a 26-20 lead with 3:58 left in the half. Manhattanville answered right back with a three-pointer from sophomore Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) and two free throws from McGuire, cutting the deficit to one. King's eventually pushed the lead back to four, but Elting and Catalano each made a layup in the final 63 seconds, squaring the game at 29 at the half.

The third quarter was a seesaw affair, as Manhattanville never trailed, but led by no more than four points the entire period. The back and forth battle continued into the early stages of the final quarter, before an Elting layup finally put Manhattanville up five, 52-47, with 7:31 to play. After Prociak and McGuire traded layups for 54-49, a Yori layup and four straight King's free throws gave the Monarchs their first lead since the end of the first half with 2:23 to play.

Coutu's two free throws with 2:11 to go previewed clutch shooting down the stretch as the McGuire/Coutu duo went a combined 12-for-14 as Manhattanville opened a 66-59 lead with 14 seconds to play before one additional King's free throw produced the final margin.

Off to their first 3-0 MAC Freedom start since 2009-2010, the Valiants will hit the road for two straight conference clashes, starting Saturday, Jan. 12 against the Misericordia University Cougars. Tip time is scheduled for 1 p.m.