PURCHASE, N.Y. – Led by a career-high 22 point effort from
Jamison Agostino (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville), the Manhattanville College women's basketball team improved to 8-1 in Skyline Conference play with a 65-49 victory over Saint Joseph's-Long Island. The Valiants now stand at 12-2 overall on the year.
With a reputation of doing her damage from beyond the arc, Agostino posted her career night with just a pair of three pointers. The junior guard shot 6-of-15 from the floor but was extremely effective at the free throw line. Agostino went 8-of-9 at the charity stripe, shaking off the team's back-to-back poor free throw performances across the last two games. She would also collect five rebounds in the win.
Amanda Orlando's (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) phenomenal rookie season continued with her fourth-straight game in double-figures. The Putnam Valley product shot 6-of-13 from the field to the tune of 13 points while collecting six caroms and a steal.
Despite a relatively quiet night from leading scorer
Julianna Kascic (North Bergen, N.J./Paramus Catholic) offensively, the senior still made a considerable impact off the glass. While her seven points was her lowest point total since Nov. 14 and snaps a streak of 11 straight games in double figures, Kascic earned 15 rebounds for the second straight game. She continues to average a double-double per game, scoring 14.9 points and collecting 11.4 rebounds a contest.
Kascic's performance led a dominant rebounding effort, with the Valiants collecting 50 caroms compared to the Golden Eagles' 35.
Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) added nine rebounds as part of the effort.
The Valiants would not pull away until the second half as the game would be deadlocked at 29-29 through the opening 20 minutes. Manhattanville threatened to run away with things early, opening the contest on a 10-3 run over the first 1:53. Agostino would account for eight of the 10 opening points. Despite the early hole, the Golden Eagles bounced back following a time out to outscore the Valiants 12-4 over the remainder of the quarter to go ahead 15-14 on an Alyssa Adomaites three pointer.
Manhattanville used another run in the start of the second to retake the lead, scoring 10 of the quarter's opening 12 points to go ahead 24-17. Lanyah Ford would single-handedly bring Saint Joseph's back, scoring 10 of her team's next 11 points to put the Golden Eagles up 28-25 entering the final three minutes of play. Baskets by Agostino and
Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) put the Valiants ahead by one as time began to dwindle, but Manhattanville would be called for a foul in the closing second, allowing Julianna Knice to hit one of her two free throw attempts to tie the game up at 29-29.
It was once again the Valiants opening on a scoring run to begin the second half as Manhattanville scored nine unanswered points coming out of the locker room to take an advantage they would not surrender. The lead quickly swelled to double digits as
Angela Downey (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) drained back-to-back threes, putting the Valiants up 44-34. The Golden Eagles would close out the quarter on an 8-2 run to show they were not going away quietly, cutting the deficit down to 46-42 entering the final 10 minutes.
After a pair of free throws by Kascic and a Smith layup began the fourth for the Valiants, Manhattanville's lead would not fall below five points the rest of the way home. After the Golden Eagles made it a 50-45 game, Manhattanville scored 12 straight points to put the game out of reach, up 62-45 with 1:22 to go. Adomaites accounted for the only field goal in the remainder of regulation as the rest of the scoring came from the free throw line as the Valiants closed out the 65-49 victory.
Up Next
Manhattanville will host Sarah Lawrence on Tuesday night. The Skyline clash is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
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