How We Got Here
In what can only be described as a raucous environment on Thursday night, the Valiants punched their ticket to the Conference Championship with a 78-55 win over No. 3 Mount Saint Mary in front of a sold out crowd in Kennedy Gymnasium. The win avenged the Valiants' semifinal loss to the Knights in last year's tournament and brings the team to a place that they have previously never been under the tenure of head coach Kate Vlahakis—playing for a championship.

The Manhattanville defense was disruptive all night long against the Knights, holding Mount Saint Mary to their second-worst shooting percentage of the year of .242. Manhattanville would shoot .547 from the floor and took control in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Knights 37-14 over those 20 minutes. Julianna Kascic (North Bergen, N.J./Paramus Catholic) led the team with her 14^th double-double of the year, scoring 20 points while collecting 11 rebounds. Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy) finished as the rebound leader on the night with a career-high 12 boards, while Kascic was joined by Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep), Jamison Agostino (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) and Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook) in double-figures offensively.

On the other side of the bracket, USMMA secured their fourth-straight championship game appearance with an 82-56 win over Saint Joseph's-Long Island on Thursday night. The win extended Merchant Marine's winning streak to 13 straight, having not lost since Jan. 5 to Mount Saint Mary. Double-doubles from Madison Demos (15 points, 15 rebounds) and Lauren Hunter (14 points, 15 rebounds) put the Mariners in the driver's seat, while Grace Jackson's 18 point performance led all scorers on the court.

Last Time Out
After the Valiants earned a 68-59 win at Merchant Marine back in November, the Mariners split the regular-season series with a 59-49 overtime victory at Manhattanville on Jan. 19. The Valiants led by seven with five minutes to play in regulation in the last meeting before USMMA tied the game up at the end of the quarter. From there, Merchant Marine outscored Manhattanville 10-0 in overtime to secure the win. The Valiants were led by 16 points from Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), while Kascic posted a 12 point, 12 rebound line. On the other side, Hunter took charge with a 16 point, 17 rebound effort.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville