ARLINGTON, Va. – The Manhattanville Valiants women's basketball team defeated Marymount on Saturday evening by the score of 65-54 to win the Marymount Tip-Off Tournament. In addition to the team honors of winning the tournament, juniorTaylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player, while senior Kelli Hyjek(Tolland, Conn./Tolland) was named to the All-Tournament team.
For Manhattanville, the win marks the team's third tournament title since the start of last season, as the Valiants took first place at both Salem State and Catholic last year.
After a Marymount three to start the game, Manhattanville went on a 9-0 run to take the six-point lead on a layup by juniorSarah Gibbs (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City). The Saints then clawed their way back and tied the game with 12 minutes to go in the first half.
For the remainder of the half the two sides battled closely with one another, going shot-for-shot with no team getting larger than a four-point lead the rest of the way. For Manhattanville the stretch was led by Hyjek, who notched nine points through the final 12 minutes of the half. The Valiants took a slim 32-30 lead into the intermission.
After the break, senior Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) hit a jumper to start off the scoring. Marymount then struck with back-to-back three-pointers to take a two-point lead.
Both sides went back and forth once again with the game again tied at 44 apiece with 10:03 to go in the game. Following the deadlock Manhattanville had shots hit by three different players as junior Jen McSharar and sophomores Beranda Felder(Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) and Melody O'Connor (Kingston, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) all hit from the field.
Hyjek gave the Valiants a double-figure lead on a layup with just over two minutes remaining. After a Marymount basket, Gibbs hit five straight free-throws to give the crimson and white their largest lead of the game at 14 points with 1:03 remaining in the game at 65-51.
Marymount ended the game with a made free-throw and a layup but it wasn't nearly enough as Manhattanville defeated their hosts to win the four-team tournament by a score of 65-54.
Leading the way in points for the Valiants was Hyjek who had 15 points. Gibbs (13 points) an Wilkes (12 points) were also in double-figures for the visitors. McSharar led the way in rebounds with 10, while Gibbs also led the team in assists with three and steals with five.
The Valiants as a team shot 17-of-51 from the floor (33.3%), while going 4-for-15 from beyond the arc, including three by Wilson. From the free throw line Manhattanville went 27-for-42, including nine from Gibbs and seven from Hyjek.
Marymount was led by Tynisha Parks off the bench with 16 points, as the team went 20-for-52 from the field (38.5%). Turnovers were close between the two sides with Marymount giving it away 24 times to the Valiants' 23.
Manhattanville (2-1) will be back in action this coming Friday when they return to New York for a trip to West Point and a matchup with the Division I Army Black Knights set for 7:00 p.m. Marymount (1-2) will look to brush off their loss when they take on Catholic at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.