PURCHASE, N.Y. – We've got Championship Saturday inside Kennedy Gymnasium! The top-seeded Manhattanville College women's basketball team is back in the Skyline Conference Championship Finals for a second-straight year and will host third-seeded Mount Saint Vincent at 2 p.m. on Saturday to crown the 2023-24 conference champions.
    How We Got Here
The top-seeded Valiants extended their winning streak to 13 with their semifinal win over No. 4 Saint Joseph's Long Island on Thursday night, defeating the Golden Eagles 55-37. It was another great defensive performance in a season full of suffocating pressure by Manhattanville, holding Saint Joseph's to a season-low point total and their worst shooting performance of the season of .201.

Julianna Kascic (North Bergen, N.J./Paramus Catholic) took the reigns with her 12^th double-double of the year, scoring 16 points and collecting 10 rebounds alongside four steals and two assists. Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy) added 11 points, while Angela Downey (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) shot 3-for-5 from deep for a nine-point night. Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) added seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two takeaways as she was fundamental in the team's defensive dominance.

Manhattanville has not been a one-dimensional team all year long with a squad that has shown an ability all season long to step up if anyone is having an off night. While Kascic is averaging a double-double per game (13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds), Smith and Jamison Agostino (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) are both averaging more than ten points a contest. Both Agostino and Downey have let it fly from deep, with Agostino leading the conference in three-point shooting at a .385 clip. Both Livi Correia (North Attleboro, Mass./Worcester Academy) and Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) have logged 50 steals this season, with Correia also sporting a team-high 87 assists.

On the other side of the bracket, Mount Saint Vincent makes their first trip to the Skyline Finals in nine years as the third-seeded Dolphins outlasted No. 6 Farmingdale 73-68 in the quarterfinals before knocking off No. 2 Mount Saint Mary on the road on Thursday night, 72-62. Kira Villegas scored 18 to steer to USMV offense, while starting teammate Amber Been put up 11. The Dolphins also got double-figures out of Ariella Johnson (14) and JaKaia Lotz (10) off the bench to nab the win in hostile territory up in Newburgh.

The Dolphins featured two of the top scorers in the conference in Villegas and Magan Jackson who are both putting up 14 points a game. Jackson has also been one of the most accurate shooters in the Skyline, as her .464 field goal percentage trails only Kascic's .528 this season.

All told, the top two scoring offenses in the conference are the last two standing to play for Saturday's championship. However, the Valiants have held opponents to 47 points per game this year, the seventh-lowest in the entire nation.

Last Time Out
The Valiants won both regular season meetings against the Dolphins, but it was far from easy as the games were decided by just six total points. On January 18, the Valiants defeated Mount Saint Vincent 59-55 in Riverdale that saw Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) score the final four points in the closing 36 seconds to snag the win for Manhattanville. Smith and Agostino led the Valiant offense with 13 points each, while Been, Jackson and Villegas each put up double-figures for the Dolphins.

In the rematch in Kennedy on February 14, it was down to the wire once again. Correia played the role of hero the second go-around, hitting a three-pointer with 43 seconds remaining to put the Valiants in front and ultimately surviving, 52-50. Agostino hit five three-pointers to lead the way with 15 points, while Correia finished with 11 and six rebounds. Jackson once shined with 16 points, while Been had a 12 point, 12 board double-double for the Phins.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Points Per Game: Kascic (13.1), Smith (10.4), Agostino (10.3)
• Rebounds Per Game: Kascic (10.2), Smith (8.4), Orlando (4.2)
• Assists Per Game: Correia (3.3), Tucker (2.5), Orlando (2.4)
• Steals Per Game: Orlando (2.1), Correia (2.0), Tucker (1.5)
• Field Goal Percentage: Kascic (.528), Ramos (.525), Smith (.442)

Mount Saint Vincent

• Points Per Game: Villegas (14.1), Jackson (14.0), Been (11.2)
• Rebounds Per Game: Been (7.4), Villegas (6.8), Lotz (5.1)
• Assists Per Game: Been (3.4), Villegas (2.7), Hanley (2.1)
• Steals Per Game: Villegas (3.4), Been (3.1), Johnson (1.6)
• Field Goal Percentage: Jackson (.464), Villegas (.406), Broderick (.400)

History

• All-Time Record vs Mount Saint Vincent: 27-9
• Streak: Manhattanville W5
• Series record at Manhattanville: 17-2
• Last Five Meetings:
  • 2/14/24: UMSV 50, Manhattanville 52
  • 1/18/24: Manhattanville 59, UMSV 55
  • 1/31/23: UMSV 29, Manhattanville 74
  • 1/3/23: Manhattanville 61, UMSV 47
  • 2/17/22: UMSV 37, Manhattanville 49 

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