NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's basketball team closed out the road slate of the 2023-24 regular season on Thursday night with a 65-53 win over Yeshiva. The Valiants, who clinched the No. 1 seed for the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament earlier in the week, will carry an 11-game winning streak into the final weekend of the regular season, now standing at 21-3 overall and 18-1 in the conference.

With the win, the Valiants set a new program benchmark for most conference wins in a season. Manhattanville had previously earned 17 wins in conference play in the 2019-20 season.

Four in double figures led the way for the Valiants. Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) and Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook) each finished with 11 as Manhattanville's scoring leaders. Orlando added five rebounds, a pair of steals and an assist in her 22 minutes on the floor, while Tucker led all bench players with 23 minutes as she logged four takeaways with three rebounds and two assists.

Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) and Kristen Scrobola (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas High School) each added ten points in their starting roles. The duo also led the team's rebounding efforts with seven boards apiece. Smith was all over the floor on Thursday night, adding six assists, two blocks and a pair of steals. Scrobola followed just behind with five assists of her own.

Coming off of a gutsy win a day prior, the Valiants were slow out of the gate against the Maccabees in the first quarter. The Vals shot just 22 percent over the opening ten minutes, allowing Yeshiva to open the game with seven straight points. Manhattanville began to get the wheels in motion as a Jamison Agostino (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) three and a Scrobola layup put the visiting squad back within two. After the Maccabees went back up by five on a Shai Rahamim deep-ball, Manhattanville scored six unanswered points to take their first lead of the game with 11 seconds left in the quarter. However, Rahamim would strike again at the horn with a shot from beyond the arc to put the Maccabees up 13-11.

Manhattanville shook off the sluggish start with a .533 clip in the second to take a ten-point lead into the half. After battling to four tied scores, the Valiants began a 6-0 run at the 5:25 mark to go up 25-20. Fortune Hunan put a temporary halt to Manhattanville's score run with a layup, but it was all Vals over the closing 2:10, scoring the final seven points of the quarter to go ahead 32-22 through 20 minutes.

The Valiants continued to ride the momentum into the third with another 7-0 run to take a 17-point lead at the 6:50 mark. Yeshiva would be unsuccessful in closing the gap back to single digits in the quarter as Tucker capped off the third with an exclamation point for Manhattanville with a three, extending the lead to 46-32.

The Maccabees closed out the night going 7-for-10 from the floor but would be unable to make much of a dent in the Valiants' lead. Yeshiva would ultimately bring the game back to single digits off a Yuval Nitzan three-pointer with two minutes to play, but a 7-0 Valiant run put an end to any comeback effort.

Up Next
The teams will square off once again on Sunday for the finale of the Skyline regular season. The Valiants celebrate Senior Day against Yeshiva with a noon start.

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