The short-handed City College of New York women's basketball team (1-3 Overall, 0-0 CUNYAC) built a 25-point second half lead and hung on to capture their first victory of the 2010-2011 season, defeating the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's College of Long Island (0-2 Overall, 0-0 Skyline) by a score of 79-71 Saturday evening at the Danzi Athletic Center in Patchogue, NY. The Beavers dressed just eight players for the contest, with four of those players scoring in double figures for CCNY.
St. Joseph's short-lived first half lead of three points vanished rather quickly, with the Beavers taking the lead for good with 14:37 remaining in the first session when Sajidah Pressley connected on a jumper to give her team a 9-8 advantage. From there, CCNY gradually built up its lead, eventually taking a 43-29 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, CCNY started the session on a 19-8 run, taking a 62-37 lead with 12 minutes to go in the game. The Beavers would maintain their advantage and find themselves up by 20 points – 76-56 – with 4:15 to go, but a late charge saw the Golden Eagles go on a 15-2 run to pull to within seven points – 78-71 – with nine seconds remaining in the game. The Beavers would hold on, though, going on for an eight point victory.
In the win for CCNY, Syreeta Williams scored a team-high 20 points, connecting on seven of her 13 shots from the floor and all six of her attempts at the charity stripe. She also snatched nine rebounds and recorded a pair of steals in 35 minutes of action. Alexis Jackson posted a double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, six steals, and four assists, and Taryn VanEsselstyn nailed six of her seven shots from the floor, accounting for 14 points while pulling down five boards. Finally, speedy point guard Donika Rexhepi also had a double-double, as she hit on just four of her 17 attempts while dropping in 13 points, snatching 10 boards, dishing four assists, and tallying four steals. Following the game, CCNY head man Kevin Clifford gave his thoughts.
"It always feels great to get that first victory, and it's even better when you know the team used a balanced effort to accomplish that feat," Clifford said. "We had four players in double figures and the girls really stepped up. We're banged-up right now. We have injuries and when those start to pile up, it puts a lot of pressure on the girls that are healthy, and I like the way we fought today. We'll enjoy this one and look forward to the conference opener with Lehman College on Tuesday evening."
Despite the loss for the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's College of Long Island, Amanda Bender put forth a tremendous effort, netting a game-high 33 points while nailing 15 of her 28 attempts from the floor. She also grabbed seven rebounds, tallied six steals, and swatted two shots. Nicole Redding struggled with her shot all night long, misfiring on 14 of her 21 attempts, but she did account for 16 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists.
CCNY shot 45.9 percent from the field (28-61) while St. Joseph's (Long Island) hit on 38.5 percent of theirs (30-78).The Beavers won the rebounding battle, 48-41, while also tallying 22 steals to the Golden Eagles' 17. CCNY dished 11 assists to St. Joes' eight, and the Golden Eagles slightly won the turnover battle, committing 30 miscues while forcing 31 Beaver mistakes.
The Beavers will now head home ready to begin their conference portion of the 2010-2011 campaign as CCNY will take on Eric Harrison and his Lehman College Lightning at the Nat Holman Gymnasium, with game-time scheduled for 5:00pm. The night will also serve as Faculty/Staff/Student Appreciation Night, so all fans are encouraged to come down as there will be plenty of promotions, games, and giveaways.