PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team got double-figures in points from four of their five starters but it wasn't enough as the Valiants fell to Freedom Conference opponent FDU-Florham on Wednesday evening by the score of 69-66.
Leading the offense was junior guard Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) who had 17 points and gathered eight rebounds. Finishing second on the team in points was classmate Jennifer McSharar (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) who had 15 points while falling one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Senior Kelli Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) added 14 points of her own while classmate Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) finished the game with 10 points.
Manhattanville started the game off with a bang as Wilson opened the scoring with a three-pointer just 45 seconds into the contest. The Valiants continued to add to their offensive totals as they opened up an 8-4 lead on the Devils. FDU-Florham answered back with a 9-0 run of their own and took a 13-8 run that was stopped by Turner who hit a layup to stop the drought.
The Devils took their largest lead of the half with 6:18 remaining as Jasmine Washington hit a three-pointer to open up a 27-18 lead. The Valiants answered back with a run of their own as they scored eight unanswered to pull the game within one as freshman Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y/St. Saviour) hit a pair of free throws, Caiazzo finished the night with eight points and seven rebounds off the bench. The Devils finished the half on a 5-0 spurt and went into halftime with a 36-30 advantage.
After the break Caiazzo got a pair of back-to-back layups pulling the Valiants within two once again but as the Valiants scored in bunches, so too did the Devils as they responded right back with a 5-0 run. FDU-Florham continued to add to their lead which reached double-figures as Melissa DeHaas hit a pair of free-throws to put her squad on top 47-36. Hyjek got the deficit to within single-digits with a layup, but the Devils weren't done.
FDU-Florham scored eight in-a-row to gain a 16-point edge on their hosts with 13:40 remaining in regulation. Over the course of the next few possessions the Valiants came back with an 11-2 run that was capped off by a McSharar layup to pull back within six at 59-53. The Valiants got the game back to a one possession game after Turner hit a free throw with 4:07 to go.
After pulling within a shot the Valiants took their first lead of the second half when Turner hit a layup with 2:22 to go to put the Valiants up 66-65. The Devils returned the favor and hit a field goal to go back on top 67-65with 2:09 left on the clock to regain the one-point edge.
The Valiants had possession with the time continuing to wind down and coughed the ball up on a turnover that the Devils gave back with a turnover of their own but Manhattanville lost possession again and was forced to foul with seven seconds left on the board. FDU-Florham capitalized and made both of their free throws giving Manhattanville one last chance to tie the game on a three-pointer, unfortunately for the Valiants another late turnover gave the Devils the ball and the win as they escaped with a 69-66 victory.
Manhattanville (6-13, 1-8 Freedom) will be back in action looking to break their string of hard-luck games this Saturday when they travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. to take on the Wilkes Colonels at 1:00 p.m. Meanwhile, FDU-Florham (10-10, 4-5 Freedom) will also return to the floor on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when they play host to King's (Pa.) College.