PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team dropped its second straight Freedom Conference matchup to the Misericordia Cougars on Saturday afternoon by the score of 72-64. The Valiants were led by sophomore Alyson Caiazzo (Brooklyn, N.Y/St. Saviour), who continues her impressive start to the season with her sixth double-double in as many games this year.
 
Manhattanville was led by Caiazzo, who had 15 points and 16 rebounds while senior Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) had 13 points including six from the free throw line. The Valiants also got double figures out of sophomore Bri Pabon (Newington, Conn./Newington), who finished the game with a dozen.
 
The Valiants started the game off with a strong 6-0 run as Caiazzo picked up four of the points and Wilson picked up a layup in the early going of the contest. A few minutes later Misericordia's Tyann McDaniel sent home a three-pointer, and the Cougars hit a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 8-7 with 4:19 gone by in the contest.
 
Sophomore Shayna Robinson (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) broke the Cougars' run with a jumper but it was quickly answered back by a three-pointer from Misericordia. The lead continued to bounce back and forth between the two sides as neither the Valiants nor Cougars could take more than a four point lead, through the half the lead was tied on seven separate occasions as the game remained close heading into the halftime break.
 
With Manhattanville holding a two-point lead at the intermission, Misericordia answered with a 9-0 run and opened up the largest lead for either side as they took a 37-30 lead with just under three minutes gone by in the period. The Cougars opened up a double-digit lead on their hosts, but the Valiants were able to get it back to single-digits on a pair of occasions.
 
After a Kayla Sileo layup with 13:31 to go in regulation, the Cougars did hold their double-digit margin and ballooned the score up to 16 with 11 minutes exactly to go. Manhattanville refused to go down quietly as Pabon and freshman Sharanda Barboza (Orange, N.J./Marylawn of the Oranges Academy) each hit a pair of free throws, followed by a layup from junior Breana Jackson (Los Angeles, Calif./Crossroads School) to bring the Valiants back within 10.
 
Wilson hit a pair at the charity stripe, and the Valiants had the lead down to eight. Misericordia answered with a 4-0 run, but Wilson again sank a pair of free throws before hitting a three-point basket and yet another free throw to bring Manhattanville within six once again. Both teams went 10-for-10 in terms of answering points back and forth as time was working against the Valiants, trailing by six with 15 seconds to go.
 
McDaniel scored the last two at the free throw line and iced the game in favor of the Cougars, finishing with a 72-64 win.
 
Overall the Valiants shot 34.9% from the floor in contrast to Misericordia's 41.1% shooting. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, but both teams shot over 64% from the free throw line in 40 minutes of play.
 
Manhattanville (3-3, 0-2 Freedom) will be back in action this Wednesday when it hosts the New York University Violets for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. Misericordia (6-0, 2-0 Freedom) will hit the floor next against Marywood on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m.