BRONX, N.Y. - The Lehman College women's basketball team was defeated by the College of Staten Island, 83-75, in the APEX on Tuesday evening. The Lightning fall to 6-6 in CUNY Athletic Conference play while the Dolphins pad their conference record to 12-1 and remain in sole possession of first place.

The Lightning kept the game close throughout, but CSI kept hitting the timely shots to pull out the victory.

Lehman freshman guard Amely Del Rosario (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) started the game off in grand fashion by nailing a three-point shot, just four seconds into the game, to put Lehman up 3-0. She was also able to attack the basket, and lay the ball up and in, to give Lehman an early 15-10 advantage, with 15:07 left in the opening half. Less than two minutes of play later, the phenom struck again, this time with a jump shot to give Lehman another five-point lead, their largest of the game.  

The Dolphins would respond by going on a 13-4 run in a span of 7:36 to take a 25-21 lead. The Lightning would trail by two points at the end of the first half.

Lehman trailed by four in the early stages of the second stanza but Del Rosario nailed a shot from beyond the arc to pull the Lightning within one, 43-42, with 16:13 left in regulation. Less than a minute later, Del Rosario grabbed an offensive rebound, dribbled the ball to beyond the three point line and sunk another jumper from downtown to help regain the lead for Lehman.

After the Dolphins jumped back out in front, sophomore forward Amani Lightbourne (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) drove through the lane for a layup to give the Lightning a narrow, 47-46, advantage with 13:36 left to play. Freshman guard Genesis Liberato (Santo Domingo, D.R./Liceo Ramon Matias Mella) took a feed from sophomore guard Jennifer Navarro (Jamaica, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) and nailed a three-point shot to put Lehman up, 50-47, with 13:00 left.

Staten Island remained poised and countered with an 8-0 run to gain the lead and never looked back. In the end, the Dolphins won the game by eight.

Del Rosario led all players in scoring with 24 points while Lightbourne added 21 points of her own. Junior forward Shalaya Nieves (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Liberato also scored 14 points.

The Lightning will be on the road on Thursday, February 6, for a key conference game at Baruch College.  Tip-off will begin at 5:30 p.m.