BRONX, N.Y. - The Lehman College women's basketball dropped the first game of the new year to CUNY Athletic Conference rival Brooklyn College, 96-88, in the APEX on Saturday afternoon. After a sluggish first half, the Lightning fought back to keep the game close in the second but it was not enough to complete the comeback.

Freshman guard Genesis Liberato (Santo Domingo, D.R./Liceo Ramon Matias Mella) opened the game by taking a feed from junior forward Shalaya Nieves (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney) and laid the ball up and in to put the home team up, 2-0, just five seconds in. After Brooklyn (7-3, 3-1 CUNYAC) scored the next five points, sophomore forward Amani Lightbourne (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) nailed a jump shot to cut Lehman's (9-4, 3-1 CUNYAC) deficit to one with 17:55 remaining in the opening half. Freshman guard Amely Del Rosario (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) swung the ball to Nieves who put the ball in the basket to give Lehman the 6-5 advantage.

The Bulldogs would respond by scoring the next six points as the visitors never lost the lead for the remainder of the contest. The Lightning went into halftime down 43-32.

In the second stanza, Lehman would not go down without a fight as the Lightning went on a 7-0 run in a span of 2:08 to shrink Brooklyn's lead to just six points.

With 14:51 left in regulation, Liberato scored on a layup to pull Lehman within five.

Del Rosario drained a three-point basket to cut the deficit to 53-49, with still 13:55 left to be played. The guard managed to force a steal and attacked the basket for the put-in to make it just a two point deficit for the Lightning with a little over ten minutes to go. However, that's as close as the Lightning would get as the Bulldogs were able to pull away and hang on for the hard fought victory.

Del Rosario finished with 26 points, seven assists, and four steals. Liberato added 13 points and four assists, while Lightbourne scored 17 points and Nieves 12. Sophomore guard Jennifer Navarro (Jamaica, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) produced 11 points, and dished out two assists.

The Lightning will hit the road on Tuesday, January 7, for a key CUNYAC game at the College of Staten Island as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team. Tip-off for the women is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.