Lehman junior Amanda De La Cruz is quickly showing that she can put points on the board as well as anyone in the City University of New York Athletic Conference.
On Wednesday night against Brooklyn College, De La Cruz equaled her season-high of 28 points but it turned out not to be enough as the Lightning dropped a 62-54 decision.
Playing without leading scorer, Louvinia Hayes, who continues to recuperate from injury, as well as key post player Jaleesa Gordon, the Lightning, CUNYAC's No. 2 offensive team at 67 points per game, was obviously starting from behind the eight ball.
However, that didn't keep Coach Harrison's ladies from hanging tough in spite of an early 19-7 deficit. The Lightning would mount a comeback with contributions coming from all corners of the roster, in particular De La Cruz and Paula Robinson.
With 4:53 remaining in the first half, Robinson drained a three-pointer to knot the score at 25-25. De La Cruz then followed up with a three ball of her own, at which point the Lightning had captured its first advantage since 30 seconds into the game. Another layup by the junior gave her 15 for the half and Lehman a 30-25 lead with 1:42 to go.
Freshman Chris Mary Martinez's connection from long distance with 33 seconds remaining provided the half's final points as Lehman entered the locker room ahead 33-30.
Both teams battled to a near standstill for the first seven and a half minutes of the second half until Ariel Smith scored to hand the lead back to the Bulldogs at 42-41. Brooklyn pushed the margin to 10 points on Justine O'Callahan's layup with 6:30 remaining.
The Lightning had one final run in it as De La Cruz scored seven of Lehman's next nine points to get her team within four, 56-52, with 58 seconds left in the game. On the Bulldogs next possession, the absence of Gordon under the boards reared its ugly head, though, as Brooklyn managed two offensive rebounds before O'Callahan converted on a putback to push the lead back to six.
After Paula Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one, Elisha Raiford scored to put Brooklyn up an insurmountable eight with just 22 seconds left.
In the loss, De La Cruz's 28-point effort came on 10-of-24 shooting but also included a backbreaking 12 turnovers. Senior Taniefa Taylor was a monster on the boards, picking up the slack with 15 caroms. Robinson's strong eight point first half gave way to a tough shooting second half as she scored just two points on 1-of-5 from the field.
The loss drops the Lightning to 9-7 overall and 3-3 in the CUNYAC.
Lehman returns home for its next game when it hosts York College on January 22nd as part of the school's Alumni Day festivities.