Box Score MARTS CENTER, PA – The Wilkes women's basketball team was unable to mount a second half comeback as they fell to fellow Freedom Conference opponent Manhattanville College 57-44 on Saturday afternoon.

The loss drops the Lady Colonels to (5-15, 2-8 Freedom) while the Valiants improve to (9-12, 4-6 Freedom).

Wilkes and Manhattanville were tied at 8-8 with 13:31 remaining in the first half after Elena Stambone (Jessup, PA/Valley View) hit a 3-pointer for the Lady Colonels.  From that moment on the Valiants responded with a 13-2 run that increased their lead to 21-10.  Despite the 11 point lead Wilkes fought back hard and went on a 8-0 run of their run to cut the Valiants lead to three at 21-18.  In a tale of first half runs, the Valiants got the last run as they outscored Wilkes 6-1 in the final 3:00 of the half to extend their lead to eight (27-19).  The Lady Colonels were led by Kayla Brahm (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) who matched her career high with seven points in the first half.  The Valiants Alyson Caiazzo was dominant in the post as she notched nine points and nine rebounds in the first half.  Wilkes shot 7-for-35 (20%) from the field in the half while Manhattanville shot 12-for-32 (37.5%) from two-point range.

The second half opened with both teams exchanging baskets and with 17:33 remaining the Valiants had an eight point cushion at 32-24.  From there Manhattanville used a 14-6 spurt to break open the game and give them their largest lead of the afternoon at 16 (46-30) with 13:14 to play in the game.  Six consecutive points by Stambone trimmed the lead to 10 with 11:58 to go but that was the closest the Lady Colonels would get for the remainder of the game as Manhattanville played consistent in the final minutes winning by 13.  Stambone scored 13 points in the second half for Wilkes while Bri Pabon poured in 10 and Ashley Franklin chipped in with seven for Manhattanville. 

Brahm scored a career high nine points for Wilkes while Stambone finished with 19.  Ellen Rich (Hamden, CT/Hamden Hall) grabbed 10 boards for the Lady Colonels who shot 14-for-63 (22.2%) from the field, 6-for1-18 (33%) from deep and 10-for-20 (50.0%) from the line.  Caizzao led the Valiants with double-double (13 points, 17 boards) while Pabon contributed a team-high 16.  Point guard Candice Scott-Mason had a nice game with multiple circus type drives: she finished with eight points, five dimes and four boards.  Manhattanville shot 22-for-59 (37.3%) from the field, 3-for-10 (30.0%) from distance and 10-for-14 (71.4%) from the line.

Wilkes goes on the road to face Muhlenberg College in Allentown on Monday for a 7:30 P.M. game.