PURCHASE, NY – The Purchase College women's basketball team suffered a defeat at home on Friday night, falling to longtime neighboring rival Manhattanville College by a score of 69-52.
With the loss, Purchase slipped to 4-19 overall and 3-15 in the Skyline Conference, while Manhattanville continued its impressive play, improving to 20-3 overall and 16-3 in the league.
A trio of Panthers finished in double-digits despite the outcome. Sophomore forward
Shadai Plowden (Yonkers, NY) led the attack with a game-high 20 points. She put together a strong 39 minutes, connecting on 9-of-19 attempts from the floor and finishing with four rebounds and three steals.
Senior guard
Arta Krasniqi (Bronx, NY) and junior guard
Dejeana Peoples (New York, NY) combined for 26 points (13 apiece). Krasniqi also pulled down a team-best nine boards, including five on the offensive end, while adding a pair of dimes.
For the Valiants, Sarah Coutu fueled the victory with 18 points, six assists and three rebounds. Amanda Pemberton and Spencer Shore finished with 16 points apiece, while Olivia Kelly came off the bench to lead the defense with a team-best eight boards.
Plowden broke the scoring ice from three-point range to open the game. Manhattanville answered with back-to-back Pemberton buckets to take the lead, 4-3, before Purchase fired in a 4-0 run of its own, thanks to the combined scoring effort of Plowden and
Alfa DeJesus (SR/Bronx, NY).
The remaining five minutes of the first quarter played out with two more lead changes and a pair of tie scores. Manhattanville would eventually push out in front and close the stanza on a three-point bucket to take a 15-11 edge over Purchase.
Despite their efforts, the Panthers could not regain the lead—trailing 33-24 at the break and eventually falling 69-52 in defeat.
Purchase will take a few days off before heading to Kings Point, N.Y. to take on the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The Skyline matchup is set for Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
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