ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Eastern Women's Basketball fell to visiting Manhattanville 73-61 Saturday afternoon. The Eagles posted a 9-of-27 mark from the field in the first half and committed 14 turnovers leading to a 43-27 Valiants halftime lead.
"We have to play with more heart," said Head Coach
Eric Houston. "We came out flat today, and it showed on the score board. We just didn't want it enough."
Manhattanville (16-6, 8-4 MAC Freedom) opened the game with a 9-4 run and forced seven Eastern (11-12, 5-7 MAC Freedom) turnovers in the Eagles first 11 possessions of the first quarter.
Regie Robinson hit a layup in the paint to cut the deficit to 9-6 with under three minutes left to play in the quarter before the Valiants closed out the quarter with a 10-5 run to take a 19-11 lead after one.
In the second quarter, the Eagles pulled within seven at 24-17 after a
Taylor Price layup. That was the closest Eastern would come for the remainder of the half as Manhattanville stretched its lead to 15 at 34-19 after a 10-2 run scoring seven points in a row at one point. The Valiants took and 16 point 43-27 lead into the locker room.
"Every time we got a little momentum going they came right back and had an answer for us," continued Houston. "We have to do a better job of keeping momentum on our side throughout the game once we get rolling."
Manhattanville went 16-of-33 from the field in the first half and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. The Valiants also recorded eight steals, three of which were from Candice Scott-Mason.
The Valiants pushed their lead all the way to 19 points with just over six minutes left to play in the third quarter at 50-31. Eastern did respond with a 15-8 run of their own making it 58-46 heading into the final quarter of play. Robinson scored nine of the Eagles 15 points during that scoring run.
In the fourth quarter, Eastern forced a turnover right from the start and held the ball for almost the entire first minute but missed five shots and came away with zero points. The Eagles did finally tally back-to-back possessions with points and pulled within 11 at 61-50 but a scoreless drought of nearly two minutes ensued by both teams. The Valiants outscored Eastern down the stretch 13-11 to seal the victory.
Price scored a game-high 21 points while Robinson netted 18 of her own.
Emily Lavin posted her eleventh double-double of the season scoring 12 points and recording 11 rebounds.
Ashley Raaf led all Manhattanville scorers with 20 points and seven rebounds. Bri Pabon and Scott-Mason each scored 12 points respectively while Ashley Franklin totaled 11 points. Kayleah McGuire rounded out the double-digit scoring with ten.
"We have two games left to try and turn things around," concluded Houston. "I know we have the talent to go 2-0 down the stretch, but you have to play like you want it. We can't just show up we need to go after it, and if we as a team can play like that this week, I know we are going to be successful."
Eastern travels to Misericordia on February 16th for a 6 pm tipoff.
