Manhattanville led 38-26 at the break, allowing the Dolphins to make only nine field goals, but Staten Island stepped up the defensive pressure in the second half, forcing the Valiants into 30 turnovers for the game and putting a scare into the visitors before the night ended.
“I thought we played very well but got a little frazzled in the second half,” Brown said. “But we kept our heads and continued to play on the defensive end even when things weren’t working for us on offense.”
The Valiants were extremely balanced offensively, getting at least 13 points from four different players, led by sophomore guard Olivia Nastasi’s 16 points. Freshman Nina Johnson came off the bench and had a monster all-around game, setting career-highs with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and seven steals.
Lauren Grenier had a double-double with 13 points, on 5-of-6 shooting, and 11 rebounds and Kim Reznicek also had 13 points.
The Dolphins managed to jack up a remarkable 74 shots in the game, including 42 in the second half, only nine fewer than Manhattanville had all night. The Valiant defense, however, was stingy, holding Staten Island (0-3) to 25.7% shooting from the floor despite surrendering 23 offensive rebounds. Nicole Estrada had a double-double for the hosts, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
For Brown, the Valiants’ rookie head coach, there is not much time to savor the milestone victory.
“I was very pleased win the win,” Brown said. “We’ll enjoy it for tonight and be ready for NYU on Wednesday.”
Brown and Manhattanville (1-2) will visit New York University, an NCAA Tournament team last season, Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Valiants will kick-off their final season in the Skyline Conference three days later, visiting Mount Saint Vincent Saturday at 1:00 p.m.