Purchase, N.Y. – Manhattanville College built a 42-18 lead over the first three quarters of Saturday afternoon's women's basketball game against Keystone College on its way to a 54-32 victory  in the opening round of Manhattanville's Battle of the Castle Tournament.  The Valiants improve to 2-0 and advance to Sunday afternoon's championship game while the Giants, who will play in Sunday's consolation game at noon, fall to 1-2 on the year.  
 
Manhattanville jumped out to a 12-2 lead over the first 5:17 of Saturday's contest and would hold an 18-7 lead after the first quarter.  The Valiants netted the first six points of the second stanza and would go on to hold a 27-13 advantage at halftime.
 
The hosts shots 35.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play and were 7-10 from the free throw line holding Keystone to just five field goals in the first half. 
 
Manhattanville put the game out of reach by scoring the first 11 points of the second half and outscoring the Giants 15-5 in the third quarter.  Keystone battled until the end though and outscored the Valiants 14-12 in the final period.
 
Nancy Caballero scored a game-high 11 points for Manhattanville while Kayleah McGuire totaled nine points.  Joiada Darnell led all players with 11 rebounds while Ivy Coles dished out a game-high five assists for the Valiants.
 
Manhattanville shot 38.2 percent from the field for the game including a 1-7 effort from three-point range while going 11-20 from the free throw line.  The Valiants finished with a 22-2 edge in turnovers for the game.
 
Nina Hodanich (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) led Keystone with nine points and three steals while Daynara Elysee (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo) tallied six points.  Hannah Zuchowski (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area) chipped in with five points while Dyjae Williams (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) paced the squad with seven rebounds. 

Hodanich and Bryce Garrett (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) chipped in with six boards apiece for the Giants while Williams and Brianna Nolen (Union Bridge, Md./Walkersville) dished out a pair of assists each in the loss.  Emily Hutton (North Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) also collected three steals on the day for the Giants.  
 
Keystone hit on 19.6 percent of its efforts from the floor while going 3-13 from beyond the arc and 7-19 from the charity stripe.  The Giants held a narrow, 43-42 edge in rebounds on the day.
 
Keystone will take on the loser of Saturday's game between Connecticut College and Marywood University on Sunday afternoon in the consolation game of this weekend's tournament.  Opening tipoff is set for 12:00 p.m. at Manhattanville.