RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University women's basketball team used a dominant third quarter to take over Wednesday night's road contest at Mount Saint Vincent, sweeping the regular season series with the Dolphins following a 65-52 win.

The Valiants (13-5, 10-4 Skyline) nursed a three-point lead at the half before erupting for 23 points in the third quarter, shooting 53 percent from the field to pull away from Mount Saint Vincent (10-10, 8-7 Skyline).

Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) led the charge for Manhattanville, matching her career-high of 26 points while coming down with 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Two of those performances have now come against Mount Saint Vincent, as the junior put up 16 with 11 rebounds in the win over the Dolphins back in November. Ramos hit eight field goals, including three from deep, while going 7-for-10 at the free throw line.

Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) and Julie Debrocky (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) complimented Ramos' output with a pair of 10-point outings. For Smith, it was her first game in double-figures since putting up 18 against Albertus Magnus on Jan. 2, while her seven rebounds was second to only Ramos on the night. Debrocky, meanwhile, extended her streak of double-digit game to four-straight while also putting up a good game off the glass with six rebounds.

Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook) played a full 40 minutes and led the team with three assists, adding seven points with three rebounds. Her point total was matched by Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), with the junior logging three steals and a pair of helpers.

It was an extremely slow start for both teams, with Erin Smith's three pointer for the Dolphins and a layup from Niyona Smith (Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep) for Manhattanville the only two baskets in the first six minutes of play. Erin Smith snapped Mount Saint Vincent's scoreless drought of five minutes with a jumper to re-spot the home team a three-point lead before Tucker and Madison Carlo (Carmel, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) hit back-to-back threes to put Manhattanville in front 10-7. Erin Smith continued her strong opening quarter with another three ball to tie it up again before Ramos drilled a pair of free throws to put the Valiants up 12-10 to end the first quarter.

The offenses went quiet again for close to three minutes before Smith scored the first basket of the quarter for the Valiants. The Dolphins fought back to down one entering the final 5:30 of the half, but Manhattanville scored seven-straight points to take the largest lead of the half as a Smith jumper put the Valiants up 22-14. Mount Saint Vincent ended the half on a 7-2 run to bring their halftime deficit to 24-21.

After struggling to find a rhythm in the first half, the Valiants came to life in the third to seize control of the game. The Dolphins got back to within a point following a Grace Kennedy layup with 6:40 left in the quarter before Manhattanville scored ten unanswered to blow the doors open. The output fueled a larger 19-6 run that closed out the quarter, with Tucker delivering the final blow with a jumper that beat the buzzer to put Manhattanville up 47-33.

While the Valiants were unable to replicate their red-hot shooting effort into the fourth quarter, Manhattanville got the job done at the free throw line to close out the victory. Manhattanville held a double-digit lead for the first nine minutes of the quarter, delivering a big response bucket every time the Dolphins started to get momentum. Ramos spotted the Valiants their largest lead of the night with a three-pointer to put the visitors up 59-42 with 2:49 left to play. The Dolphins outscored Manhattanville 10-6 to close out the night, but were unable to rebound from the third quarter.

Up Next
The Valiants close out the week on Saturday at Purchase College for a noon Skyline Conference battle.

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