KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2026) – The USMMA women's basketball team defeated first-place Manhattanville University, 62-52, at home on Wednesday night inside a loud Liebertz Gymnasium. With their ninth-straight win, the Mariners' record improves to 20-4 (17-2 Skyline), while the Valiants fall to 19-5 (17-2 Skyline) in defeat.
Merchant Marine clinched a first-round bye in next week's Skyline Tournament and is still in play for the top overall seed going into the final weekend of action. KP also closed out the regular season home slate with a perfect 12-0 record.
Game Links
Sophomore
Carolae Barton (Waldorf, Md.) recorded a double-double with a game-high 22 points and 16 rebounds to go along with six blocks. Three other Mariners joined her with double-digit scoring, as junior
Emily Grasseler (Millbrook, N.Y.) also had a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds (as well as five assists), senior
Hannah Ramsden (Port Aransas, Texas) drained 13 points and sophomore
Breanna Sommers (Casa Grande, Ariz.) added 11 points.
The Mariners doubled-up the Valiants on the glass, out-rebounding their rivals 44-22, and shot 39.7% from the field, while holding Manhattanville to 34.4% shooting. Merchant Marine also made the most of their takeaways, as the Mariners scored 14 points off of the Valiants' 10 rebounds, while the visitors could only score two points off of USMMA's 14 turnovers.
Manhattanville scored on its first trip and led briefly in the opening minutes, but that advantage disappeared quickly as the Mariners responded with a 9-0 run to flip a two-point deficit into a seven-point lead midway through the first quarter. After the Valiants got back within a possession, USMMA closed the quarter on another surge, scoring on consecutive trips to push the margin to multiple possessions and take control of the tempo before the break.
The second quarter turned the game decisively. The Mariners rattled off a double-digit run that stretched the advantage from a tight contest into a comfortable cushion, building the margin into the teens by halftime. Every time Manhattanville tried to chip away, USMMA answered with back-to-back baskets to halt the momentum and keep the Valiants from ever regaining the lead. Kings Point held the visitors just six points in the pivotal quarter.
In the second half, the script remained the same. KP gradually widened the gap with another scoring burst late in the third that pushed the edge past 20. From there, the Mariners controlled the final quarter, matching each brief Valiants score with an immediate response and methodically closing out a big win over the first-place team in the Skyline.
Manhattanville had two players score in double-figures, as Julie DeBrocky drained 16 points and Gabby Tucker contributed 13 while also dishing out four assists and tying Esther Ramos for the team-high with five rebounds.
The Mariners close out the regular season this Saturday, Feb. 21, up at Mount St. Vincent. Tip-off is scheduled for 12-noon at the Dolphins' Peter Jay Sharp Center in the northwest Bronx.
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