The City College of New York women's basketball team (2-16 Overall, 1-6 CUNYAC) improved to 1-2 under new head coach Jackee Meadow as the Beavers defeated the Yellow Jackets of New York City College of Technology (3-15 Overall, 1-7 CUNYAC) by a score of 74-41 Wednesday evening at the Klitgord Center in Brooklyn, NY.
It was an encouraging team effort for City College, and point guard Donika Rexhepi led the way for her squad by scoring a game-high 26 points, as she connected on 11 of her 19 attempts from the floor while also snatching 10 rebounds, dishing six assists, and tallying four steals in 39 minutes of action. Syreeta Williams nailed all eight of her free throw attempts and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Sajidah Pressley had one of her best games of the year as she finished with 16 points (7-7 FT) to go along with three steals.
The Beavers shot the ball extremely well all evening long, nailing 44.4 percent of their attempts (24-54), including a three-of-six clip from beyond the arc. CCNY was nearly perfect from the charity stripe, connecting on 23 of their 25 attempts there. City College won the turnover battle by a wide margin, committing just 12 miscues while forcing 21 Yellow Jacket mistakes.
Despite the loss for New York City College of Technology, it was Erica Simon doing it all for the Yellow Jackets, as she hit on 10 of her 18 attempts from the field and accounted for a team-high 22 of her team' 41 points while posting a game-high 15 rebounds and tallying two steals. Veteran Kimberly Battle helped with eight points and five rebounds as well.
The Beavers raced out to a 12-2 lead just 3:31 into the contest and never looked back from there. CCNY eventually built their first half lead up to 23 points - 34-11 - and would take a 41-21 advantage into the locker room at halftime. When the second session started, City College would start the period on a 7-0 run through the first 3:07 to balloon its lead up to 27 - 48-21 - with 16:53 remaining in the game. The Beavers' 74-41 lead - which turned out to be the final score - ended up being the team's biggest advantage of the night.
The victory for CCNY increased the team's chances of qualifying for a CUNYAC tournament berth. The Beavers' playoff scenario seems relatively clear at that point, as City College will likely be battling Medgar Evers for that eighth and final playoff spot. Both teams are 1-6 in conference play, with Medgar owning a head-to-head victory over CCNY. With both teams still having six conference games to play, City College would need to finish one full game better than the Cougars to qualify for the tournament.
CCNY will return to action on Saturday afternoon, January 29th, as the Beavers will battle the Brooklyn College Bulldogs in another conference game at the Nat Holman Gymnasium. Start time for the clash is scheduled for 3:00pm.