BRONX, N.Y. – Behind a 33 point effort by freshman Amely Del Rosario, the Lehman College women's basketball team surged past Hunter College, 74-57, on Wednesday night at the APEX. The Lightning are now 2-0 in CUNY Athletic Conference play, while advancing to a 4-2 overall record. Hunter is 2-6, and 0-2.
Hunter jumped out to an early 7-5 lead just minutes into the game, before sophomore Jennifer Navarro (Jamaica, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) knocked down a three-pointer to put the Blue and Gold up for good, at the 4:30 mark. Del Rosario (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) followed with a good field goal from beyond the arc to put the home team up, 11-7. Navarro made a layup to conclude a Lehman 8-0 run.
After Hunter made a free throw, Lehman had another big run as Del Rosario scored the next seven points of the game, as she hit two free throws, a layup in the paint, and then nailed a shot from downtown to increase Lehman's lead to 20-8, with 9:47 remaining in the opening half.
Hunter was able to bounce back and go on a 10-0 run to narrow the score to 20-18 with 7:19 left in the first half. But that was as close as they would get, as Lehman responded by scoring 15 of the last 21 points to end the first half, up 35-24.
Hunter managed to pull within ten points in the second half, but Del Rosario once again ripped the ball through the net from beyond the arc to increase the advantage to 13. Junior forward Shalaya Nieves (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney) made a free-throw with 1:31 remaining to give Lehman the largest lead of the game, at 21, before winning by 17.
Del Rosario was on fire all night, as she led all scorers with 33 points. Her five steals also led all players. Nieves tallied 17 points, and grabbed eleven boards for the double-double. Sophomore Amani Lightbourne (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) scored 12 points, brought down eight rebounds, and forced three steals. Navarro produced ten points and chipped in with three assists.
The Lightning will travel to our nation's capital, Washington D.C., this weekend for the Gallaudet University Holiday Tournament. Lehman will play hosts on Saturday, December 6, at 2:00 p.m.