PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team is bringing home their seventh Skyline Conference win after defeating St. Joseph's College-Long Island on the road today, Jan. 11. Every Valiant that stepped out onto the court today scored at least one basket. This team effort helped them take down the Golden Eagles 86-70.
 
Freshman Jamie Smith (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) had a season high notching her first double-double at Manhattanville. She grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 10 points. Smith split her rebounds 6-6 between offensive and defensive. She also shot .625 from the floor banking 5-8 shots. In the 21 minutes she played she also made three blocks.
 
The Valiants (11-1, 7-1 Skyline) ended the first quarter trailing the Golden Eagles (2-10, 0-7 Skyline) by one. Manhattanville only shot 17.6% from the floor as St. Joe's shot 31.3%. Junior Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) led the pack in points totaling seven. She made all five of her free throws and one bucket. In addition to Coutu, sophomore Faith Johnson-Desilvia (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead), freshman Madison Fields (Grantsville, Utah/Grantsville) and freshman London Scott (Farmers Branch, Texas/Newman Smith) each put two points on the board. The Valiants trailed 14-13 before the second quarter.
 
Johnson-Desilvia made a layup to bring the Valiants ahead by one for the start but then St. Joe's responded with five made points. Back-to-back, Coutu and junior Amanda Pemberton (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) drained a jump shot on the Golden Eagles to tie up the game at 22 apiece. Following the tie basket, Johnson-Desilvia was fouled and made one of her free throws. From then on out the Valiants never lost the lead.  
 
Two second chance points were made in the second. One came from Smith after Coutu stole the ball from the Golden Eagles then passed it to Pemberton who missed her shot. Smith jumped up got the offensive rebound and put the ball back up for a made jumper. In the next play, St. Joe's Megan Steinman went for a jumper that was stuffed by Smith. Smith totaled two blocks in the second.
 
In the third, Coutu totaled 10 points as Smith and junior Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) each followed with six. Shore and Smith shot 100% from the floor. Shore credited two threes as Smith made three layups. Johnson-Desilvia assisted one of Shore's and Smith's shots as Pemberton and Fields assisted one to each.
 
Heading into the fourth the Valiants were ahead 69-49. Shore opened the fourth with another made three assisted by Pemberton but the Golden Eagles responded with a basket and two made free throws. Two blocks were made in the closing minutes as Smith and Pemberton split them. Shore hit another three-pointer to close the game at 86-70. Eighteen seconds remained on the board but Manhattannville's defense was able to keep St. Joe's scoreless.
 
Coutu finished the game with 26 points as Johnson-Desilvia followed with 16. Shore ended with 12 points shooting .444 from the three-point line. Behind Smith in rebounds was Johnson-Desilvia who grabbed 7.
 
The Valiants will next take on the College at Old Westbury this Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 6:00 p.m. on the road in Old Westbury, N.Y.