PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team kicked off its 2022-23 season with a 60-53 victory over York College on Wednesday evening. The Valiants will now begin their seventh straight season with a 1-0 record.
Jamison Agostino (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) led Manhattanville scoring with 17 points in the opener, while
Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) added 12 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
The York College Cardinals went on a five-point run to begin the game before an Agostino jumper would put the Valiants on the board for the first time this season.
Julianna Kascic (North Bergen, N.J./Paramus Catholic) would tally a free throw while Smith would add her first points of the night off of a layup. Manhattanville would have five points total while York would go onto score eight more with two minutes left on the clock. Agostino would respond with a three-pointer with 42 seconds left, while York's Alicia Gumbs would match that to keep the Cardinals up 17-10 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter is where the Valiants would come out strong and put up a fight, and the defense would hold the Cardinals to only five points.
Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) and Smith would contribute eight points to give Manhattanville the 18-17 lead with eight minutes left in the half. York's leading scorer, Mac-Dege Dessources, would then score four points for the 21-18 Cardinals lead.
Angela Downey (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) would hit a three-pointer to tie the game while
Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) and Agostino added three points. With four minutes remaining in the half, York's Aminata Sagna sunk a free throw for the final Cardinal point of the second quarter.
Kristen Scrobola (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas High School), Ramos, Agnostino, and
Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy) would go on a nine-point run before heading into the locker room with a 33-22 Manhattanville lead.
In the third, York College was able to collect themselves and score eight within the first two minutes of the half, while holding the Valiants scoreless for the first three minutes. A Correia three pointer, followed by a Scrobola jumper would keep Manhattanville up, 38-30, with six minutes remaining. A back-and-forth effort would close out the quarter as Dessources would carry the Cardinals with seven points and Manhattanville would show some depth in scoring with Agostino, Kascic, and Scrobola totaling 12 points to send the 50-39 game into the fourth quarter.
The Valiants would rattle off two free throws from Orlando before a Sagna three-pointer to start off the fourth and final quarter at 52-42. Smith would add two, while York's Ellma Hodzic would see her first points of the season. The Cardinals would then go on an eight-point run before Manhattanville would respond with a layup. York College wouldn't go home without a fight as they brought themselves within three points with less than two minutes remaining. Scrobola would tally two, while Agostino would take the final foul and sink both of her free throws to lead the Valiants to a 60-53 victory over the York Cardinals for their first win of the 2022-23 season.
The Valiants will be back at home on Monday, Nov. 14 hosting Pratt Institute at 6 p.m. in Kennedy Gymnasium.
