The Lehman College women's basketball team (6-4 Overall, 1-0 CUNYAC) dropped a non-conference contest, falling to the William Paterson University Pioneers (8-3 Overall, 1-0 NJAC) by a score of 77-68 Saturday afternoon in an intense contest played in Wayne, New Jersey.
The Lightning opened the contest with a 13-5 lead, but a 13-4 Pioneer run gave William Paterson its first lead since the opening moments at 18-17 with 8:21 remaining in the first half. That advantage stretched to as many as 10 (36-26, 2:15), and the Pioneers entered the locker room with a 39-32 lead. William Paterson's April Smith did most of the damage for the Pioneers during the opening 20 minutes, shooting 8-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the foul line for 20 points off the bench.
William Paterson looked like it was going to cruise to an easy victory, extending its lead to as many as 19 during the second period (63-44, 10:38), but a late 15-4 Lehman burst made it a five-point contest (73-68) with 1:30 to play. Pioneer Junior Deidra Thompson got free on a breakaway, but standout Whittney Barnes came in hard as Thompson attempted the layup and was whistled for an intentional foul with 1:19 remaining. Thompson made one of the two free throws (74-68), and following a William Paterson missed three-pointer and Lightning rebound, Thompson drew a charge from sensation Sally Nnamani, giving the ball back to the Pioneers with 38.2 seconds to play. Lehman was forced to foul for the remainder of the contest, and the Pioneers' Julie Haledjian made three of four free throws during the game's final 30 seconds to seal the victory for William Paterson.
Despite the loss for Lehman, Barnes led the Lightning with 18 points and nine rebounds, and Nnamani collected 16 tallies and nine boards. Senior forward Monique Sampson rounded out Lehman's double-digit scorers with 12. First-year point guard Tonisha Kirby also put together a solid all-around game, netting nine points while dishing five assists and grabbing seven rebounds. Following the defeat, Head Coach Eric Harrison talked about his team's performance.
“We fell behind early and when things looked like they were slipping away early in the second half, we put together a nice run and made it interesting, and that is encouraging to see,” Harrison said. “We'll enjoy the holiday break now, regroup, and come out ready to play in 10 days when we go on the road to play Marymount (Virginia).”
In the victory for William Paterson, Smith led the way for her squad, shooting 10-of-14 (.714) from the floor and scoring 28 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Haledjian registered 13 points, six assists and three steals, and freshman BriAnna Lucas added 10 tallies and four assists.
Lehman College will return to action on Tuesday afternoon, December 30th, as the Lightning take to the road to battle Marymount University (Virginia), with game-time scheduled for 4:00pm.
