SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team suffered its first setback of the 2023-24 campaign in Monday's opener of the Puerto Rico Clásico Tournament, falling 70-35 to No. 5 Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Valiants fall to 7-1 on the season with the loss.
The first game in the tropical paradise was far from a welcoming one for Manhattanville as the team allowed its most points in a game since an 80-71 loss to Mount Saint Mary in February 2022. The offense also fell quiet against one of the top teams in the country as the Valiants' 35 points was their lowest in a game since November 2005 when they were held to 28 against Susquehanna.
Monday marked Manhattanville's first game against a ranked opponent since 2019.
Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) had the best effort on the floor for Manhattanville as she neared a double-double with ten rebounds and eight points along with a block and a steal.
Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) finished second on the team in scoring as she finished with seven, while
Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy) and
Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook) both ended the day with five points apiece.
While limited to a season-low of four points,
Julianna Kascic (North Bergen, N.J./Paramus Catholic) finished only behind Smith in the rebound department as she pulled down five boards.
The Valiants shot a season-low of .261 from the field, connecting on just 12 of 46 total field goal attempts. There was little Manhattanville was able to do to try and slow down an explosive Warhawk offense that improved to 10-0 on the year with its eighth game of the year scoring at least 70 points. Smith would account for the whole of Manhattanville's offense in the opening quarter as she hit a layup and a jumper, but Wisconsin-Whitewater ran out to a 16-4 advantage at the end of the opening ten minutes.
The Warhawks would net the first six points of the second to extend a 13-0 run between the periods before Smith broke a nearly six-minute long scoring drought with a layup to move the score to 22-6. The Valiants would connect on all four free throw attempts in the opening half, two each from Smith and Orlando, but Manhattanville's struggles to get into a rhythm from the field saw the Warhawks lead swell up to 21.
Jamison Agostino (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) would deliver the final strike of the half with a three-pointer, Manhattanville's lone deep ball of the game, to send the teams into the half with Wisconsin-Whitewater up 33-15.
Manhattanville shot 0-for-14 in the third quarter as the Warhawks firmly pulled away with an 18-point frame. The Valiants' only points came from the charity stripe as Correia hit a pair of free throws and
Kristen Scrobola (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas High School) drained one. Wisconsin-Whitewater did not shoot substantially well, hitting on just 27 percent of their shots, but a pair of three-pointers and an 8-for-12 mark on free throw attempts had the fifth-ranked Warhawks up 51-18 with ten minutes to play.
The Valiants would have their best offensive performance in the fourth quarter, momentum they look to carry into tomorrow's contest, as the shot 58 percent from the field. Orlando led the way with five points, while Kascic would notch all four of her points in the game over the final ten minutes of play. Despite the Valiants finding some success against the Warhawk defense, it was too little, too late as Wisconsin-Whitewater's lead would climb up to 42. The Valiants ended the game on a 7-0 run with baskets from
Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills), Correia and Tucker, with Correia adding a free throw, to bring the final score to 70-35.
Up Next
The Valiants will look to shake this one off as they play their finale in the Puerto Rico Clásico tomorrow when they take on Knox College at 1 p.m. EST The Prairie Fire come off a 76-55 win today over St. Mary's Maryland in the opening day of play.
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