BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehman College women's basketball team pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory over John Jay, 68-66, in the first CUNY Athletic Conference game of the season, on Tuesday evening. It was also the Lightning's home opener.

It was a wild game as the final five minutes featured six lead changes.

With just less than a minute remaining in regulation, and Lehman (3-2, 1-0 CUNYAC) trailing by one, junior forward Karrin Walker (New York, N.Y./Richard R. Green) took a feed from junior forward Amani Lightbourne (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) and laid the ball up and in to give the home team a narrow 66-65 advantage.  

With eight seconds remaining, the Lightning had the ball with a one-point lead, when junior guard Jennifer Navarro (Jamaica, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) was fouled and sent to the line. She made the second free throw to put Lehman up, 68-66. After the Bloodhounds (0-4, 0-1 CUNYAC) inbounded the ball, John Jay's Josephine Diaz lunged a deep pass that was intercepted by junior forward Linda McKeon (Yonkers, N.Y./ Moyne C.S.) just as the buzzer sounded to clinch the Lightning's first conference victory of the season, and third consecutive win overall.

At the beginning of the second half, after a John Jay basket tied the game at 34, the Lightning would turn momentum into their favor by scoring the next seven points, including five from Navarro, in a span of 1:07 to catapult Lehman to a 41-34 lead with 18:24 left to play in the second stanza.

The Bloodhounds would not go down without a fight as they battled back to take the lead, 59-58, with less than five minutes remaining. Both teams were held scoreless for the next 1:31. The short scoring slump ended when Navarro nailed two free throws to help Lehman regain a one-point lead. Both teams battled back-and-forth but the Lightning's clutch free-throw shooting helped them earn the victory.

Lehman's offense featured balanced scoring. Navarro had a team-high 15 points while sophomore guard Amely Del Rosario (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) and Lightbourne each tallied 14. Junior forward Yarmese Jones (Astoria, N.Y./William C. Bryant) added 13 points for the Lightning. Del Rosario led the way on defense with three steals and blocked two shots.

Walker had a very productive night, just missing a double-double, with nine points and 14 rebounds.  She blocked two shots and forced two steals.

Lehman will return from Thanksgiving break with another CUNY Athletic Conference contest, this time on the road at Medgar Evers, on Friday, December 5. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.

For all of the latest information on the Lightning, visit www.LehmanAthletics.com, www.instagram.com/LehmanAthletics, search for Lehman Athletics on Facebook.com, and at www.twitter.com/LehmanSports.