NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Manchester University women's basketball team scored its first conference win of the season with a 57-41 final score against Defiance College on Wednesday, January 3.
 
The game began in a tough defensive battle, with Manchester leading 6-4 in the first quarter. Wednesday's back-and-forth battle continued as the Spartans and Yellow Jackets both scored 15 points in the second quarter to bring the total score to 21-19, in favor of the Spartans.
 
Madison Stamm (Fortville, Ind., Anderson Prep) would knock down back-to-back three-pointers to start the second half for the Black and Gold. The Spartans would extend their lead to double digits to defeat Defiance 57-41 and improve to 4-8 overall and 1-4 in HCAC play.
 
The Spartans scored 30 points in the paint during Wednesday's contest. Manchester also scored 23 points off of Defiance's 27 turnovers, while shooting 38.2% (21-55) from the field. 

Hailee Kline (Huntington, Ind., Blackhawk Christian) led the Spartans with 11 points, followed by Maddi Smith (Kewanna, Ind., Caston) with 10 points. Stamm was nearly perfect from three-point range, shooting 3-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Aaliyah Bonner (Goshen, Ind., Northwood) pulled down six rebounds on Wednesday night. Behind her was Smith, Abigail Rosenkrans (Pendleton, Ind., Pendleton Heights), and Alyssa Pfeil (Goshen, Ind., Concord Community) with five rebounds apiece.
 
Up next, the Black and Gold will host Hanover College for an HCAC men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Saturday, December 6. Manchester women's basketball will tipoff against the Panthers at 4:00 p.m. in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.