KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team suffered its first conference loss of the 2023-24 campaign on Wednesday night as the Valiants fell to Merchant Marine 43-42 on a closing-second free throw. The loss snaps Manhattanville's winning streak at three games and is their first loss to a conference opponent since succumbing to USMMA in the Skyline Conference Championship Finals last February. With the defeat, the Valiants fall to 10-3 overall and 7-1 in the Skyline.

A far cry from the performance the Valiants had in the 68-35 win back in December the last time the two teams had met, Manhattanville shot just 27 percent in Wednesday's loss. Neither team could score more than 15 points in a quarter, with the Mariners saving their highest scoring output of the game for the fourth to complete the comeback and hand the Valiants their first regular season conference loss since January 2023.

Julianna Kascic (North Bergen, N.J./Paramus Catholic) was one of the only Valiants to generate some success against the USMMA defense as she grinded her way to a 14 point, 12 rebound double-double. It was the grad student's eighth double-double of the season and her third straight. Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) scored eight while logging a team-high five steals. Coming off her Skyline Player of the Week nod, Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) scored six points and pulled down six rebounds.

Giving a sign of the night to come, the teams traded six leads over the first quarter, Neither squad would lead by more than three points. Orlando would tie the score up at 10-10 after converting an old-fashioned three-point play to send the game to the second quarter evened. The Valiants would generate the first sustained run of the night as Manhattanville scored the first six points of the second to go up 16-10. The Mariners hit just three field goals in the quarter as the Valiants built up a seven point lead, heading into the half up 23-16 after Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy) sank the final basket off her own steal with 53 seconds left.

A cold shooting night got colder for Manhattanville as the Valiants shot just 23 percent in the second half. With the Valiants unable to find the footing to deliver the knockout blow, Merchant Marine shot 50 percent in the third quarter, The Mariners hit a pair of clutch baskets both time the Valiant lead peaked at nine points and would come running all the way back to a two-point deficit as Kaira Winston made it a one score game with 1:32 left in the quarter. Angela Downey (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) would give Manhattanville some room to breathe as she drilled a three pointer in the closing seconds to give the Valiants a 33-28 advantage entering the final ten minutes.

Manhattanville continued to regain some distance, using a 6-0 run to extend the lead up to 41-32 with 5:16 left to play. While Smith's jumper allowed Manhattanville to match their highest lead of the night, it would prove to be the Valiants' final field goal of the night. Abby Stramski hit a deep ball for USMMA to begin a 10-1 run that brought the score back to even at 42-42. With a chance to retake the lead with seconds on the clock, Smith's potential game-winner was off the mark, allowing Emily Grasseler to grab the loose ball for the Mariners and call timeout. USMMA would go for broke on the inbound play, finding Stramski open under the basket. Kascic delivered a necessary foul to take away Stramski's shot and send her to the line, where she would hit her first shot and intentionally miss the second to allow Merchant Marine to escape with the comeback win,

Up Next
The Valiants look to bounce back when they return to their home court on Saturday afternoon, hosting Farmingdale at 1 p.m.

VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads and YouTube. #WeAreValiant #GoValiants