DOYLESTOWN, PA – Sophomore Sarah Coutu scored a season-best 18 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double, one of four Valiants in double figures on the night as the Manhattanville College women's basketball team kicked off its 2018-19 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom slate with a 70-59 win over the Delaware Valley University Aggies Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Senior Kayleah McGuire, sophomore Amanda Pemberton, and freshman Ali Mikaele combined for 36 points and 18 rebounds while recording a steal apiece for Manhattanville (7-0, 1-0 MACF). Mikaele, Pemberton, and sophomore Jykayla Elting were a combined nine-for-nine from the free throw line as well, part of a 13-point (20 to seven) advantage the Valiants held at the charity stripe. Domanique Moser led Delaware Valley (3-3, 0-1 MACF) with 18 points as the Valiants held the Aggies' leading scorer entering play Wednesday night, Ashley Smink, to just three points, 14 below her season average.

Both teams struggled in the opening quarter, as the Valiants shot below 30 percent and the Aggies shot below 20 percent, with the visitors carrying a 15-9 lead to the second quarter.

Both teams found their shooting strokes in the second quarter, making seven of the first ten total shots taken as Delaware Valley closed the margin to three, 24-21, with 5:09 left in the half. Coutu responded with three-pointers on consecutive Manhattanville possessions, one of which became a four-point play, kick-starting a 13-6 run over a three-minute span which gave the Valiants their first double-digit lead of the night. The teams traded baskets over the final two minutes as Manhattanville carried a 43-34 lead to the locker room. Both teams shot over 60 percent in the second quarter.

Manhattanville maintained a multiple-possession lead throughout the third quarter, with the Aggies closing within six points exactly three minutes into the period following a personal 5-0 run by Moser. The Valiants eventually pushed their lead back above double digits and maintained that cushion over the final two minutes of the quarter. The Aggies again closed to within six in the final quarter, but Manhattanville put the game on ice with six straight points, opening a 12-point lead with 90 seconds left.

Manhattanville returns to Kennedy Gymnasium for their lone home conference game before the new year Saturday, Dec. 8 against the Wilkes University Colonels. Tip time is scheduled for 1 p.m.