BRONX, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball dropped a tightly-contested Skyline Conference matchup on Wednesday night, falling at the College of Mount Saint Vincent 61-57. The loss is Manhattanville's third straight as the Valiants drop to 11-5 on the year and 7-4 in the conference.

Faith Johnson-Desilvia (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) scored a team-high 18 in 37 minutes of play, shooting 47 percent on the night. The Riverhead, N.Y. product also had four rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. Ali Mikaele (Silver Spring, Md./St. Andrew's Episcopal School) added 10 points of her own, going a perfect 4-for-4 on free throw attempts. It was the senior forward's first double-figure output since she scored 10 against St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) on Jan. 15.

Mikaele was the Vals' leader on the glass, collecting eight rebounds with four boards coming on each side of the floor. Niyona Smith (Towson, MD/Concordia Prep) ended the night with six rebounds as she continues to lead the team with 7.6 rebounds per game in her rookie season.

The Valiants found themselves down 35-27 at the end of the first half as the Dolphins shot 52 percent through the opening 20 minutes, including an 8-for-13 clip in the second quarter. Despite CMSV's success from the field, the Valiants led for most of the opening quarter thanks to a Johnson-Desilvia jumper and a Spencer Shore (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) three ball to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Manhattanville would protect the lead until three minutes remained in the quarter, as Victoria Hanley converted an old-fashioned three point play to tie the game at 11-11 and Amber Been connected on a layup to put the Dolphins ahead with a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the night.

The lead swelled to nine in the second, but the Dolphins would push out to a double-digit advantage in the third as a 9-2 run by the home team gave CMSV a 15 point cushion. The Valiants would hang in there, cutting it down to 10 at the end of the quarter and outscoring the Dolphins 21-15 in the final quarter. Johnson-Desilvia made it a one basket game with a jumper with 2:09 left on the clock, but the Valiant shooters went cold, unable to hit the crucial basket as the Dolphins ended the night with four straight Kayla Hanley free throws to close out the contest.

Up Next
Manhattanville will look to get back to its winning ways on Sunday, taking on Yeshiva in a neutral site game held at the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 2 p.m.