BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehman College women's basketball team dominated early and never looked back, as the Lightning dismantled St. Joseph's College of Long Island, 70-52, in non-conference action in the APEX, on Tuesday evening. Lehman has now won six out of the last seven games.
With the win, Lehman head coach Eric Harrison moves into a tie for second place with Jackee Meadow on the all-time CUNY Athletic Conference coaches' wins list.
Sophomore guard Amely Del Rosario (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) led the way for Lehman with a game-high 22 points, forced five steals, grabbed five boards, and dished out four assists.
The Lightning (6-3) stormed out of the gate early by jumping out to an 18-3 lead, just six minutes into the game. The first seven points of the night were scored by Del Rosario, who forced a steal, dribbled down the court, and converted a layup, for two possessions in a row, to give the home team an early lead that would never disappear. 1:35 later, Del Rosario successfully laid the ball up an in, while being fouled, and successfully hit the free throw, to give Lehman a 7-2 lead.
The Bronx native struck again, this time nailing a three-point shot, to put Lehman up, 14-3, just over five minutes into the game. Lehman led by double digits for the remainder of the evening.
In the second half, Del Rosario's hot streak continued, scoring the team's next ten points, in a span of 5:48, to put Lehman up, 62-42.
In the late stages of the second stanza, junior forward Yarmese Jones (Astoria, N.Y./William C. Bryant) hit a pair of free throws to put Lehman up by 23, their largest lead of the game, with 3:17 left to play. The Lightning went on to win, 70-52.
Jones and junior forward Amani Lightbourne (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) each produced double-doubles. Jones tallied 16 points and grabbed ten boards, while Lightbourne scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Lehman College Department of Athletics is proud to host the 8th Annual CUNY Athletic Conference Coaches vs. Cancer Basketball Classic, on December 29-30, 2014. Three games will be played each day in the APEX at Lehman College, beginning at 12:00 p.m. In the first round, on Monday at 12:00 p.m., Adrian (Mich.) College will face the defending ECAC Metro/Upstate tournament champions, Kean (N.J.) University. The Lehman women's team will host Shenandoah (Va.) University in the second women's matchup, at 2:00 p.m.
For all of the latest information on the Lightning, visit www.LehmanAthletics.com, www.instagram.com/LehmanAthletics, search for Lehman Athletics on Facebook.com, and at www.twitter.com/LehmanSports.