Box Score
The Lehman College women's basketball team (9-13 Overall, 7-4 CUNYAC) dropped a conference contest on Friday evening, falling to the Hawks of Hunter College (13-9 Overall, 8-3 CUNYAC) by a score of 67-51 at the Hunter Sportsplex in New York, NY. The loss dropped the Lightning to third place in North Division while the Hawks jumped to second place. Both teams have two conference games remaining this season.
Despite the loss for Lehman College, it was Barbara Febus putting forth a solid effort as she scored 12 points while connecting on four of her eight field goal attempts. She also tallied three steals and connected on two-of-three at the charity stripe. Leslie Mencia also contributed with 10 points and five steals, and Melissa St. Louis scored a team high 13 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing three assists. Following the game, head coach Eric Harrison gave his thoughts.
“It was certainly a disappointing loss for us here this evening,” Harrison said. “We wanted to build off of the momentum of our win over John Jay, and unfortunately we never got into a rhythm. We showed signs of fight multiple times tonight, but we were never able to catch them. Hopefully we'll shake this off because we have another game coming up tomorrow.”
The Lightning trailed 24-8 with 7:23 remaining in the first half of action before finishing the session on a 9-2 run to pull to within 26-17 as the teams entered the locker room. Lehman College would score six straight points to open up the second session, cutting the Hawks lead to three, 26-23, with 18:46 remaining in regulation. Hunter would then storm back, going on a 12-0 run over the next 5:11 to up its lead to 15, at 38-23 with 13:35 left.
The Hawks would gradually continue to build their lead, eventually racing out to a commanding 26 point lead, 56-30, with 7:31 to go. Still, the Lightning would not go away, as Lehman put together a stunning 18-0 run to pull to within eight points with 2:47 to go. The Hawks would then close the door, though, finishing the game on an 11-3 run to account for the 16 point win.
In the victory for Hunter College, it was Shamar Stewartson pacing her squad as she scored a game-high 22 points while connecting on seven of her 10 attempts from the field, dishing four assists, tallying four steals, and grabbing four rebounds. Juanita Whyms also had an impressive evening, scoring 20 points and snatching 16 rebounds. She attempted 20 free throws for the evening and nailed 17 of them. Finally, it was Megan McKenna finishing the evening with 15 points and six rebounds.
For the game, the Hawks shot 43 percent from the field while holding the Lightning to 28 percent shooting. Both teams struggled from downtown, with Hunter connecting on just four of their 13 attempts from beyond the three point line, and the Lightning connecting on just five of their 27. Lehman won the turnover battle, committing 28 to Hunter's 33, but the Hawks dominated on the glass, snatching 51 boards compared to 33 for the Lightning.
Lehman College will return to action on Saturday afternoon as the Lightning will battle the Mount Saint Mary Blue Knights in a non-conference game at the APEX Center, with game-time scheduled for 2:00pm.
