PURCHASE, N.Y. – Led by another stifling defensive effort that forced 33 turnovers, the Manhattanville University women's basketball team defeated Saint Joseph's Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon 65-44 to get back into the win column to wrap up the week.
Manhattanville (12-5, 9-4 Skyline) bounced back from their loss to Merchant Marine on Tuesday by holding the Bears (7-12, 6-9 Skyline) to their third-lowest point total of the season. Saint Joseph's was under constant pressure from the Valiants all day long, with the 33 turnovers committed the second-most in a game this season by the Bears.
Ten different Valiants played a hand in the turnover margin with steals as the team racked up 24 takeaways.
Taylor Malone (Yonkers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic Prep) had five steals by herself in her 15 minutes on the floor, while
Kathleen O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) and
Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook) added three each.
With yet another lockdown defensive performance by a Valiant team that's limiting opposing offenses to 48 points per game, Manhattanville was able to roll past a slow start offensively that saw the team miss its first 11 three-point tries.
Julie Debrocky (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) broke through with a team-high 20 points, scoring 16 in the second half as she found her footing from beyond the arc by shooting 4-of-6 from deep over the final two quarters. Saturday marked the second time on the year that Debrocky reached 20 points offensively, the first since her career-high 26 against Merchant Marine on Dec. 4.
O'Mara was the lone other Valiant to join Debrocky in double-figures as the freshman coupled her three steal, six rebound, one block day with 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field.
Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) came close to a double-double, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds as she led the Valiants' effort off the glass.
Tucker dished out five assists to help fuel the Valiant attack, with Ramos adding four and
Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) collecting three.
Ramos got the festivities started with a pair of layups to spot the Valiants an early 4-0 lead through the first two minutes. The Bear took the lead following a Jasmine Chan-Clayton three and a pair of free throws from Domenika Sanchez, but the one-point advantage would be the last time Saint Joseph's would be in front.
Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) regained the advantage for Manhattanville with a layup going the other way to begin a 10-0 run that closed out the quarter, putting the Valiants up 14-5.
While the Valiants remained quiet from downtown in the second quarter, Manhattanville shot 44 percent from the field to close out the half as the lead swelled to 15. The Valiant run continued as layups from O'Mara and Ramos had the home side leading 18-5 with 7:53 left in the half. The Bears snapped a scoreless drought that neared ten minutes following a Nikki Grech layup. Grech added another basket a minute later before the Valiants hit three straight from Malone, O'Mara and Tucker to push the lead up to 24-9. Both teams added a pair of baskets over the final four minutes to keep the margin at 15 with the Valiants ahead 28-13.
Manhattanville hung 20 points on the board in the third to pull away as Debrocky connected from beyond the arc for the Valiants' first three-pointer of the affair.
Madison Carlo (Carmel, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) also connected from deep in the quarter while Manhattanville made the most of their trips to the line, shooting 6-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Valiants led by 25 after a Smith free throw under two minutes before the Bears scored four of the final five points of the quarter.
Debrocky accounted for three of Manhattanville's first four baskets of the fourth quarter, all from beyond the arc to put the Valiants comfortably ahead 59-29 with seven minutes left to go. The Bears outscored the Valiants 15-6 to close out the game as Manhattanville turned off the defensive pressure, ultimately securing the 21-point win.
Up Next
The Valiants head to Riverdale on Wednesday night to wrap the regular-season series against Mount Saint Vincent with tip-off against the reigning conference champs scheduled for 8 p.m.
