Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could keep Lehman and the College of Staten Island from hooking up for a CUNYAC showdown on Thursday night after having already been postponed a day by inclement weather.
And therein was the beginning of the problem for the Dolphins as the Lightning posted a runaway 87-63 win on CSI's frozen campus to move to 11-8 overall and 5-4 in the CUNYAC.
Showcasing its pressure defense at the outset, Lehman opened up a 17-8 lead behind 10 forced turnovers and 10 early points from Amanda De La Cruz.
The Dolphins quickly got wise to the buzzing Lightning press with Olivia Tierno the beneficiary as her CSI teammates repeatedly found her along the baseline or cutting to the basket in transition for layups or to draw fouls.
Allie Shanahan's three-pointer closed the Dolphin deficit to 17-16 before De La Cruz answered right back with a jumper from the top of the key. That would be a theme on the night as she looked to showcase her jumper more frequently than in games past.
After Rachel Rosado's jumper pulled CSI to within 21-19, Lehman's Maquasia Campbell was called for traveling, setting the stage for the Dolphins to grab their first lead of the game with 7:48 remaining when Nicole Quattrocchi drilled a three-pointer.
Lehman regained the lead when Jaleesa Gordon, who played arguably her best game of the season, converted on the traditional three-point play, hitting a layup and then knocking down the ensuing free throw.
Tierno's jumper with 3:47 left in the half captured the lead for the Dolphins, 29-28, but Lehman fashioned an immediate 11-0 run to seize control.
Chris Mary Martinez started things off with a three-pointer from the left sideline followed by a layup by Gordon off a beautiful driving feed from De La Cruz. Then a jumper by Campbell from the left baseline, a jumper in the lane by De La Cruz, and another layup by Gordon finished off the spurt to give Lehman a 39-29 edge. A late basket by Tierno closed the first half scoring at 39-31.
The Dolphins came out of the halftime break visibly energized. Jaclyn Tocco scored the first points of the second half and then fired up her team even more by diving for a loose ball to force a turnover by Louvinia Hayes.
But just when it seemed momentum might be shifting in the home team's favor, Hayes canned a three-pointer to push the Lightning lead to 44-33. Hayes then stole the ball from Shanahan, sped upcourt with the ball and found a streaking Taniefa Taylor for the layup, forcing a timeout by CSI coach Marguerite Moran.
From that point the Lightning was able to maintain a double digit lead despite Hayes picking up her fourth foul with nearly 13 minutes remaining. The Dolphins twice got the deficit down to 14 points only to have Hayes counter with baskets, first a jumper to make the score 63-47 after Tierno's basket, and then a three-pointer with 8:08 to go to extend the lead to 66-49. Her fastbreak layup with 5:40 remaining left the Dolphins trailing by an even 20 points, 74-54, and all but sealed the win.
Hayes finished with 17 points on the evening, 12 in the second half on 5-of-10 shooting, but was outdone for the game by De La Cruz who ended the contest with a game-high 27 points on a mixture of jump shots and drives to the basket and also added 10 assists, seven rebounds and five steals. Gordon turned in a strong game with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Paula Robinson added 10 points and Taylor continued her Dennis Rodman-esque rebounding with 15 boards, eight coming on the offensive glass.
Lehman is right back in action on Friday as it plays host to the New York City College of Technology.