Feb. 7, 2011

Box Score

Those looking at the halftime score of Monday night's City University of New York Athletic Conference matchup between Lehman and Hunter will tend to think that the Hawks gave the Lightning all it could handle in the game's first 20 minutes.

And to a certain extent, they did, at one point jumping out to a 13-point lead, 21-8, on Johanna Keilwitz's three-pointer with nearly 10 minutes gone by.

What they'll fail to see is that beginning with that basket by Keilwitz, the Lightning ripped off a 24-2 run that got it to that 32-23 halftime score; a run that didn't stop at the intermission, but instead kept going and going until Lehman had blown the game open. After Louvinia Hayes buried a three-pointer, the Lightning lead stood at 54-37 with 9:26 remaining, a remarkable 46-14 stretch.

Instrumental in the Lightning's spurt was the decision by Coach Eric Harrison to abandon his traditional halfcourt defense and increase the tempo by having his team turn up the full-court pressure. Leading the charge was an extremely active Maquasia Campbell, who flew around the court on the defensive end to knock away balls and otherwise cause havoc with her speed and quickness.

While the defense was creating turnovers and forcing Hunter into difficult shot opportunities, Lehman's “Big Three” of Hayes, Amanda De La Cruz and Jaleesa Gordon provided the offense. Of the Lightning's 24 points scored after Keilwitz's bucket leading into the half, 22 were contributed by Hayes, De La Cruz and Gordon.

Gordon continued to punish the Hawks inside when play resumed, scoring 10 points as the Lightning built its 54-37 lead. Hunter would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way as Lehman cruised to the 68-54 win.

Despite an unimpressive final line from the field (9-for-25), especially from three-point range (4-for-18), Hayes kicked things into gear in the second half to finish with a game-high 30 points. In spite of her 5-foot-7 stature, she also was an unexpected factor as a shotblocker, turning away five Hawks' attempts, several quite emphatically.

Gordon turned in another strong game for Lehman, recording a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, her second straight 20-point, 10-rebound performance.

In the loss, the Hawks were led by the tandem of Nicole Lenard (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Kristen Markoe (19 points).

Prior to tonight's action, the Lehman Athletics Department honored seniors Hayes, Fanny Souffrant, and Taniefa Taylor for their contributions to the Lightning basketball program.

Lehman returns to action on Saturday at 12 p.m. when it precedes the Lightning-Bloodhounds men's matchup with its own CUNYAC battle.