Jan. 14, 2011

Box Score

Playing without star guard Louvinia Hayes on Friday night against host Medgar Evers, the Lehman Lightning got back to what it does best – play pressure defense and force turnovers.

The Lightning created a stunning 41 turnovers which they turned into 38 points and held Medgar Evers to 14 percent shooting in the second half to defeat the Cougars 80-52.

Amanda De La Cruz picked up the scoring slack for the Lightning, following up her strong 26-point outing against Baruch to register a stellar all-around game with a season-high 28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals.

Medgar Evers' Chantal Biscette did her best to keep the Cougars close in the first half with eight points and 10 rebounds. However, the Lightning was able to maintain a consistent double digit lead starting around the eight minute mark when Jaleesa Gordon dropped in a layup to put Lehman up 21-10. The visitors eventually stretched it to 16 on Taniefa Taylor's layup with 2:24 to go and settled for a 10-point advantage, 37-27, at halftime.

De La Cruz wasn't the only offensive catalyst in the first half for the Lightning as Paula Robinson (9 points, 4-7 FGs) and Taniefa Taylor (8 points, 6 rebounds) provided solid contributions.

Lehman began to put some distance between itself and Medgar Evers in the second half as the Cougars deficit reached 20 points for the first time at the 12:53 mark on a jumper by Chris Mary Martinez. The Lightning's 16-6 run featured eight points by De La Cruz, six by Martinez, and nine Cougar turnovers.

The onslaught continued for the duration of the half with the Lightning lead getting as high as 72-43 with 3:45 remaining.

Aside from De La Cruz's standout totals, Robinson and Taylor each finished with 13 points with Taylor also grabbing 11 rebounds. In her first start since the season's opening game, Martinez totaled 14 points. Maquasia Cambell didn't get into the scoring column, but did the dirty work with eight rebounds and five steals.

For Medgar Evers, Biscette finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds while her teammate Yvanna Jack was tireless on the boards corralling 16 rebounds.

Lehman is now off until Wednesday when it heads back to Brooklyn for a CUNYAC showdown with the Bulldogs of Brooklyn College.