ALLENTOWN, Penn – The Lehman College women's basketball team defeated Penn State Abington, 76-65, to capture the Hilton Garden Inn Holiday Tournament Championship, on Sunday afternoon.

Junior guard Jennifer Navarro (Jamaica, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) was named the M.V.P. of the tournament, as she tallied a game-high 21 points and nailed six shots from beyond the arc. She went 7-14 from the field, including 6-11 from three-point range. In Saturday's win over Morrisville St., she produced a game-high 26 points and went 5-10 from three-point range.

In the Championship game, the Lightning (2-2) got off to a slow start as Penn State Abington (2-1) jumped out to a 10-point lead with only 1:42 left in the opening half.

Lehman would respond quickly by scoring the last ten points of the half, in under two minutes, highlighted by a three-pointer from sophomore guard Amely Del Rosario (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) and a successful shot from beyond the arc by Navarro to tie the game with 11 seconds remaining in the first half.

In the early stages of the second half, Lehman's momentum came to a halt as Penn State Abington built a five-point lead. Lehman once again battled back as a three-point shot by Navarro tied the game at 39. With Lehman down by two, Navarro tallied yet another three-point basket to put the Lightning up 48-47.

Penn State Abington temporally regained a one-point advantage but a successful jump shot by junior forward Linda McKeon (Yonkers, N.Y./Moyne C.S.) gave the Blue and Gold the lead again, 56-55. On Lehman's next possession, Del Rosario connected on a shot from beyond the arc to extend the Lightning's lead to four with 8:09 remaining in regulation.  With the game tied at 62, junior forward Karrin Walker (Bronx, N.Y./Richard R. Green) hit a pair of free-throws to give Lehman the lead for good and would begin a stretch where the Lightning would score 14 of the game's last 17 points to seal the victory.

Del Rosario tallied a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. She was aggressive on the defensive end with two blocks and two steals. Junior forward Amani Lightbourne (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) just missed a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine boards. Walker added 12 points.

The Lightning will play in the friendly confines of the APEX Main Gym for the first time this season, on Tuesday, when they battle John Jay in the CUNY Athletic Conference opener, at 5:00 p.m.

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