PURCHASE, N.Y. – In a jam-packed Kennedy Gymnasium celebrating Senior Day, the Manhattanville University women's basketball team secured the No. 1 seed for the 2026 Skyline Conference Championship Tournament with a 75-64 win over Mount Saint Mary. The Valiants finish the regular season atop the Skyline Conference with an 18-2 record in the conference and an 20-5 overall mark, earning a first round bye and clinching home court advantage through the tournament.
The Valiants clinch the number one seed for the second time in the last three seasons, entering the 2024 postseason as the top seed and advancing the championship game.
Before tipoff, the team celebrated its four seniors—
Julie DeBrocky (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac),
Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley),
Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) and
Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook)—with a pregame ceremony. All four seniors played pivotal roles in Manhattanville's success on the court in their four year tenures with the team, reaching the postseason now in all four years and appearing in the Skyline Championship Finals in 2023 and 2024.
The foursome appropriately led the show, accounting for 59 of the team's 75 points as each member of the senior class reached double-figures. Tucker paced the unit with 19 points on an 8-of-14 shooting effort, striking twice from deep. Her three steals were matched by
Kathleen O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) to lead the Valiants, while her four assists were second only to Orlando's six.
Orlando scored 18 as she hit a season-high nine field goals. Ramos supplied 12 more points with five rebounds, while DeBrocky has a 10 point, 10 rebound double-double to head into the postseason.
O'Mara rounded out the starting five and also reached double digits, scoring 12 along with her six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
It was all Manhattanville through the opening five minutes as the Valiants opened on a 10-2 run. Orlando struck for six in the opening burst, bookended by Ramos and DeBrocky layups. Mount Saint Mary did not let the Valiants get away that easily, storming back with eight of the next ten as part of a longer 15-6 run capped off by Margaret Trinkaus hitting from deep to give the Knights a 17-16 lead. Manhattanville went back in front on the final possession of the quarter as Tucker was fouled on her go-ahead layup. She missed her and-one try, but O'Mara was on the spot to corral the rebound and beat the buzzer with the putback to give the Valiants a 20-17 lead through ten.
The Valiants shot 63 percent in the second quarter as the Knights remained hot on the home team's heels. Mount Saint Mary scored eight straight to open up the new frame to go in front, pushing the lead as high as six. The Valiants responded with a 13-3 run capped off by DeBrocky drilling the first Manhattanville three of the afternoon to put the home side up 37-33 with two minutes left in the half. Keira Frias hit from deep for the Knights going the other way, but a pair of Valiant layups from O'Mara and Ramos had Manhattanville up 41-36 at the intermission.
Manhattanville pulled away in the third as the Valiant defense held Mount Saint Mary to a 2-of-11 (.181) clip from the floor in the quarter, shooting 0-for-4 from deep. The Knights' saving grace was a 6-of-8 mark at the free throw line to keep the Valiants from putting the game firmly out of reach. Still, the Valiants outscored the adversaries 17-10 in the quarter, leading by as many as 13.
The Valiant defense continued to lock down in the fourth as the Knights could not connect from deep, going 0-for-5 on threes in their attempt to make up ground. Mount Saint Mary ultimately outscored the Valiants 18-17 over the final ten minutes, unable to significantly dent into the Manhattanville lead as the Valiants close out the 11-point victory.
Up Next
The top-seeded Valiants await the result of the Skyline Conference Championship First Round matchup between No. 4 Farmingdale State and No. 5 Saint Joseph's Long Island to find out their opponent for the semifinals. Manhattanville's postseason debut is currently scheduled for Thursday, pending any potential weather interruptions for the first round scheduled for Tuesday. For all postseason updates, visit
www.skylineconference.org.
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