PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team clinched their sixth win in a row against the College of Mount Saint Vincent today, Jan. 4. The Valiants and Dolphins battled for 40 minutes as the score was tied twice in the fourth quarter. In the end, Manhattanville came out victorious with a 77-70 win.
 
Today's win was a team effort as the team had eight different point scorers but freshman Madison Fields (Grantsville, Utah/Grantsville) led the Valiants in points totaling 22. In the fourth quarter when Manhattanville trailed 70-69, Fields made two back-to-back jumpers to put the team ahead by three with 42 seconds remaining. She went 6-6 at the foul line and 8-16 in the paint. Fields also notched two rebounds and assists as well as made one steal. Defensively junior Amanda Pemberton (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) notched 21 rebounds 10 of them being offensive.
 
Fields and junior Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) were the first to put points on the board for the Valiants (8-1,4-1 Skyline). Coutu started the game with a three as Fields followed with a jump shot assisted by sophomore Faith Johnson-Desilvia (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead). The Dolphins (6-4,4-2 Skyline) were able to put two on the board after DarNeisha Brice made two free throws. The largest margin run for the Valiants in the first was eight points all made by Coutu. It started with her swishing a three, then making a steal and converting it into a made layup and ending with another three. On the defensive end Pemberton grabbed eight rebounds in the first half. She was able to score a layup off of one of her rebounds.
 
It took roughly three minutes for the Valiants to score in the second. After Fields grabbed a rebound she pushed the ball up court to Pemberton who was able to count a layup. Both teams traded off points as minutes passed. Freshman Jamie Smith (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) scored the last bucket for Manhattanville in the half before CMSV made four free throws lessening the Valiants lead to 33-28.
 
The fourth quarter was very tight as both teams scored 22 points each. The Dolphins started the final quarter down by nine as the score read 57-48. They scored the first seven points putting them behind by three. Sophomore Claudia Valentin (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin School) scored a jumper hoping to would start a rally for the Valiants but CMSV came back with a layup and a made a free throw. Junior Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) sunk a three to make the score 62-57 but after each team traded a basket the Dolphins hit a three and a jumper to tie the score at 64.
 
Both teams after went shot for shot until Fields made her two jump shots that started the rally for the Valiants. Johnson-Desilvia and Shore were both fouled in the final seconds and they each made a pair of free throws to end the game. 
 
The Valiants have a short turnaround and will host Purchase College this Monday, Jan. 6, in Kennedy Gymnasium at 6:00 p.m.