PURCHASE, N.Y. – Shooting a season-high 46 percent from beyond the arc, the Manhattanville College women's basketball team picked up their sixth-straight win to open up the season with an 87-43 win over Cazenovia on Sunday afternoon.

Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) had a career outing to pilot the Valiants' offense. Shore's 20 points marked a new career high, as the graduate student was the primary contributor to Manhattanville's success from beyond the arc. Shore shot 50 percent (6-for-12) on deep balls while also collecting five rebounds. The reigning Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week Niyona Smith (Towson, MD/Concordia Prep) had another strong outing, finishing second on the team with 13 points. Faith Johnson-Desilvia (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) added 10 points of her own as the last Valiant scorer in double-figures for the day.

Smith was the leader on the glass for the Crimson and White with seven rebounds. Ali Mikaele (Silver Spring, Md./St. Andrew's Episcopal School) had six boards, four off the offensive glass, while Johnson-Desilvia matched Shore's total of five. The Valiants also had 18 takeaways in the contest, led by four steals by Claudia Valentin (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin School) and three from Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy).

Manhattanville scored the first six points of the contest off a Shore jumper and a pair of two-point baskets by Carmen Rosemond (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional Career) in the first two and a half minutes. Despite the fast start, the Valiants struggled to get separation in the early going, with the Wildcats tying the game at 7-7 with four and a half left in the quarter. Manhattanville started to click to close out the quarter, going on an 11-2 run to reclaim the lead at 18-9.

The momentum stayed with the Valiants as the home squad scored the first seven points of the second quarter. Cazenovia was able to cut the lead back down to single digits, but a 12-2 run over the final six minutes of the half kickstarted by a pair of three-pointers from Shore put Manhattanville up 37-20 to head into the half.

The Valiants outscored the Wildcats 50-23 over the final 20 minutes, shooting 47 percent from the field and 54 percent beyond the arc. Shore was 4-for-6 from deep in the second half as the Valiants began to run away with the game. Manhattanville went on a 12-1 run over the first three and a half minutes of the third and never looked back. The Crimson and White continued to let it rain from deep in the fourth, connecting on 4-of-6 three point attempts to roll to the 44 point win.

Up Next
The Valiants return to conference play on Wednesday to begin the new month, hosting Merchant Marine for a Skyline showdown at 6 p.m.