Hunter freshman Kristen Markoe knows a thing or two about academic pressure having attended prestigious Staten Island Technical High School.
On Friday night, she faced athletic pressure when she found herself stepping to the free throw line in a tie game with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Unfortunately for the Lightning, she aced the test, knocking down the pair of clutch free throws to end Lehman's win streak at three games. For the Lightning it was a disappointing end after rallying to tie the game from seven points down with 1:11 remaining.
Trailing 74-67, Louvinia Hayes' steal led to a layup by Paula Robinson cutting the deficit to 74-69. On the next possession Hayes poached another ball from the Hawks, this time turning over Markoe which led to a foul and a chance to slice the lead further. Hayes converted only one of two, however, leaving the Lightning down four with 32 seconds remaining.
Following two misses at the charity stripe by Hunter's Marta Banach, Maquasia Campbell picked the perfect time to score her lone basket, converting a layup to make it a one possession game at 74-72.
After a timeout by Lehman, Amanda De La Cruz picked the pocket of Markoe and scored to tie the game at 74 with four seconds remaining. When Hunter senior Shamar Stewartson turned the ball over on the next possession, it seemed as if Markoe would end up the goat as Lehman got the ball with a chance to win the game.
But fate was smiling on Markoe as Lehman's senior standout Hayes, who had scored 15 second half points, misfired on a potential game-winning three-pointer only to have Markoe grab the rebound and get fouled by Campbell. Markoe stepped to the line and calmly vindicated herself for her two final-minute turnovers. Her potentially disastrous turnovers had quickly turned forgotten.
Little did those in attendance realize that the first half had been a foreshadowing to the thrilling ending as Lehman weathered a hot start by the Hawks, led by Hunter's senior star Stewartson. Fresh off a 35-point performance in a losing effort against John Jay, she notched eight of the Hawks first 20 points as Hunter took a 20-10 lead seven minutes into the game.
From that point on, though, the Lightning went on a 30-18 run behind its Big Three of Hayes, De La Cruz and Jaleesa Gordon with a major assists from Robinson and Alicia McDaniel. In fact, it was Robinson's back-to-back three-pointers that gave the Lightning its first lead at 26-25 since De La Cruz's game-opening layup. Lehman would enter the locker room leading 40-38.
Hayes finished the game leading the Lightning in scoring with 21 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Robinson and McDaniel played their best games of the season, recording 16 and 14 points respectively. De La Cruz chipped in with 10 points and Gordon finished one point shy of a double-double, finishing with 9 points and 12 rebounds.
Lehman is back in action on Monday when it travels to the Garden State to face New Jersey City University.