PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team won their eighth game in a row over Skyline Conference opponent St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn tonight Jan. 8. Prior to the matchup the Valiants and Bears were tied at No. 2 in the Skyline standings but Manhattanville bumped them out with their 66-49 victory.
 
Two players had career highs in tonight's matchup. Junior Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) notched her first ever double-double as she scored a total of 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. In addition, she shot .428 from the three-point line and gave out two assists. Freshman Madison Fields (Grantsville, Utah/Grantsville) also had a double-double as she clinched 13 points and had 18 rebounds. She also had seven assists and two steals throughout the night. Both players also made two blocks each.
 
The first quarter was neck and neck as each team traded off the lead. Early on when the score was tied up a two apiece, junior Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) stole the ball from Deserae Sequeira and pushed it down the court to sophomore Faith Johnson-Desilvia (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) who banked a layup.  It wasn't until the final 25 seconds the Valiants (10-1, 6-1 Skyline) gained a small lead over the Bears (7-5,5-2 Skyline.) It was after when Fields got fouled and made both of her free throws and Coutu made another steal and took a fast break layup for herself.

One of Fields' blocks happened in opening minutes of the second quarter. She blocked the Bear's layup and then gained the rebound. Next she threw the ball down court to find junior Amanda Pemberton (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) in a perfect position to make a layup. After Pemberton's basket the Valiants were ahead 22-12.
 
Manhattanville had eight points scored off of caused turnovers in the second. One steal came from Pemberton when she pressured the inbound and stole the floating pass. Another play that stood out was when sophomore Claudia Valentin (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin School) snatched a steal and then passed it to Coutu waiting on the three-point line. Instead of taking the three she saw Fields cutting under the basket. Coutu hit Fields on the run for a layup to put the team ahead by 15.
 
The Valiants went scoreless for over five minutes in the third. Shore swished a three assisted by Fields to get the ball rolling again for Manhattanville. After Shore's basket freshman Olivia Kelley (Averill Park, N.Y./Averill Park) and Johnson-Desilvia followed with two buckets to make the lead more comfortable.
 
The Crimson and White started the fourth with a 15-point lead. Just because they were ahead didn't mean they would ease up. Johnson-Desilvia came out making a three and Valentin followed with a layup. Six of Fields' 18 rebounds came in the final minutes of the game as Shore grabbed three of her 10.
 
Next up for Manhattanville will be a road game verse St. Joseph's-Long Island in Patchogue, N.Y., this Saturday, Jan. 11, at 1:00 p.m.