Mar. 5, 2011

Box Score

The Lehman Lightning women's basketball team inched closer to capturing its first ever Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Championship as it defeated Brooklyn College 80-73 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at the APEX behind 36 points from senior Louvinia Hayes.

Lehman will now face the No. 4 seed St. John Fisher College, a 70-59 winner over SUNY Old Westbury, in Sunday's championship game.

Saturday's semifinal pitted two teams who were far from strangers, with the Lightning and Bulldogs having split their two matchups this season. The first, a 62-54 win by Brooklyn on January 19, was avenged by the Lightning in the semifinal round of the City University of New York Athletic Conference Championships with Lehman winning 54-39.

In the early going of the teams' third meeting, it was the Lightning who took control, building an 18-7 lead behind a balanced attack that saw four of Lehman's five starters get into the scoring column. But Brooklyn's Ariel Smith proved to be a one woman wrecking crew in the first half, singlehandedly keeping her team in the game with 15 points. In fact, her three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining in the half gave the Bulldogs a brief 34-33 lead.

Out of the halftime intermission, Lehman again built a double-digit lead, this time riding 10 points from Hayes as part of a 17-2 run that ended with the Lightning ahead 52-37 with 15:09 left. However, Brooklyn answered with a 14-3 run of its own to close to within 55-51 on Justine O'Callahan's layup.

Brooklyn threatened to take the lead several times over the next nine minutes before finally breaking through when Smith canned a jumper to put her team up 67-66. Two free throws by Amanda De La Cruz reclaimed the lead for Lehman, 68-67, with 1:40 remaining.

Seemingly unwilling to let her team lose, though, Brooklyn's Smith converted on a jumper with 33 seconds showing on the clock.

With Lehman trailing 69-68, Jaleesa Gordon drew a foul on Smith and stepped to the line hoping to put the Lightning ahead. Gordon managed one of two to tie the game and when Smith's last gasp shot at that buzzer went awry, the team's were headed to overtime.

In the extra session, the Lightning rode its “Big Three” of Hayes, De La Cruz and Gordon. Each member of the trio recorded a bucket as the hosts scored the first six points of the overtime to take a 75-69 lead. Ashley Allen's layup pulled the Bulldogs to within 76-73, but her team got no closer as Hayes knocked down four free throws for the final margin.

Despite her heroics through the first 40 minutes of action (27 points, 10 rebounds), Brooklyn's Smith was held scoreless over the final five minutes of play and took only one shot, a credit to the defense of Hayes according to Coach Eric Harrison.

Aside from Hayes 36-point effort – 20 coming in the second half – Lehman received strong contributions from Gordon (14 points, 16 rebounds) and De La Cruz (17 points).

Sunday's championship game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m.