PURCHASE, N.Y. – The 2025-26 Manhattanville University women's basketball season came to an end on Sunday afternoon as the Valiants fell to the United States Merchant Marine Academy 63-59 in the Skyline Conference Championship Finals. The Valiants end the year with a 21-6 record, Manhattanville's third 20-plus win season in the last four campaigns.

It was what everyone could have only hoped for in a championship game: a back-and-forth battle with clutch baskets, crucial defensive plays and a raucous crowd inside a sold-out Kennedy Gymnasium.

Playing the final games of their collegiate careers, the senior foursome of Gabby Tucker (Port Chester, N.Y./Blind Brook), Amanda Orlando (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), Esther Ramos (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) and Julie DeBrocky (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) left it all out on the floor in an effort to go out on top as champions. All four played 39-plus minutes, combining for 42 of Manhattanville's 59 points. Tucker led the Valiants with 15 points, four steals and five assists while adding four rebounds and a block. Orlando put up 13 and led Manhattanville off the glass with five boards.

Ramos and DeBrocky scored seven points apiece and finished with four and two rebounds, respectively. The former added a pair of assists and two steals, while the latter accounted for two of Manhattanville's five three-pointers and added a block and a steal.

Kathleen O'Mara (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) scored 12 to close out her sophomore campaign, hitting a team-high six field goals. She finished with four rebounds, two off the offensive glass, and a pair of takeaways.

Breanna Sommers opened the day by connecting from deep on USMMA's opening possession before the Valiants answered with seven-straight points, led by five from Orlando. Carolae Barton ended the run with her first basket of the day before nearly two and a half minutes of scroreless action. The Mariners tied the game up at 7-7 with 5:37 left off an Emily Grasseler layup. Two more tied scored brought the quarter to a close evened up at 12-12.

After shooting just .235 in the opening quarter, Merchant's shots began to fall in the second at a .533 clip. While Manhattanville shot only 33.3 percent to close out the half, foul trouble for USMMA sent the Valiants to the free throw line, shooting 7-of-8 from the stripe. The free throws allowed Manhattanville to erase USMMA's seven point lead the visitors established with 6:37 on the clock off a Grasseler jumper. Tucker ended the Mariners' 5-0 run with an old-fashioned three-point play before her and Ramos went 4-for-4 at the line to tie the game up at 21-21 with 5:25 left in the half.

USMMA broke a 23-23 stalemate with back-to-back shots from Grasseler to go back up by four with three minutes to go. The Valiants once again erased the hole as DeBrocky hit a free throw and Tucker capped off another and-one to move the score to 27-27. Barton broke the latest tie with a short range floater off the glass before DeBrocky delivered the final blow of the frame, striking from deep to give Manhattanville a 30-29 advantage at the break.

The Mariners shot 77.8 percent in the third quarter, building up an eight-point lead through the opening seven minutes returning to the floor. With USMMA looking to be on the verge of putting the game out of reach, the Valiants converted a Molly Russom (Broadalbin, N.Y./Broadalbin-Perth) and-one before Ramos hit a pair of free throws to make it a one possession game again with two minutes to go. The Mariners looked poised to take a four-point lead into the final stanza after Bartone hit a layup with six seconds left, but Tucker's buzzer-beating prayer was true, connecting from deep to set the stage for a dramatic final ten minutes with USMMA up 48-47.

Manhattanville struck first to open the fourth as O'Mara logged a steal and took the ball down court herself for a go-ahead layup. Baskets from Sommers and Grasseler put USMMA back in front before Orlando was fouled on a layup, converting the free throw to tie it up again at 52-52 at 6:16. Sommers and Ramos traded threes alongside Grasseler and O'Mara floaters to even the score at 57-57.

Hannah Ramsden broke the tie with 3:22 to play with a jumper in the paint, and while neither team could connect for the next two minutes, the Valiants were able to get Barton off the floor with her fifth foul with 1:49 left to play. With her 26 rebounds and 17 points sidelined, Manhattanville had a late opening to try and hit the elusive tying bucket.

Grasseler drew a foul and went 1-for-2 at the line to put USMMA up by three with 94 seconds remaining. Tucker made it a one-point game with 56 ticks to go with a layup, but Grasseler struck for a final time, hitting a jumper out of a timeout for her 21^st points of the game with 27 seconds to go. Down by three, the Valiants called a timeout of their own. USMMA came down with the board after a Tucker missed layup with 16 second to go, but turned the ball over on the inbound after a travel. Manhattanville's final chance came out of a final timeout, but the Mariners locked down the perimeter to prevent any open looks at threes. Ramos got a contested layup off that wouldn't fall, allowing the Mariners to hold on for the 63-59 win and return to the NCAA Tournament.

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