Box Score

The women’s basketball team used a second-half run to pull away from the Lightning of Lehman College, 66-53, in a CUNYAC home contest played on Wednesday night in the ARC Arena.

With the result, the Bearcats improve to 3-1 in CUNYAC and 7-7 overall, while the Lightning drop to 2-2 in CUNYAC and 7-9 overall.

The action began very sloppy as both teams committed various turnovers, but the Bearcats managed to jump out to a 14-2 lead as the Lightning missed 13 of their first 14 shots.

The Lightning would later rally before the halftime whistle by connecting on three consecutive 3-pointers and a jumper with six seconds left to take a 23-21 advantage into halftime.

During that first half, the Bearcats committed 18 turnovers and shot only 9-of-40 from the field. They attempted 11 more shots compared to the Lightning, but still trailed at halftime

The Bearcats came out of the locker room to start the second half a different team. They committed only six turnovers and shot 42.5 percent (17-40) from the field.

They scored the first eight points to begin the second half and managed to build a 16-point lead (58-42) with 4:16 remaining en route to the home victory.

The Lightning, who also committed 18 first half turnovers, shot only 31.4 percent (11-35) in the second half to suffer their second conference loss of the regular season.

Jessica Duleba was the lone double-figure scorer for the Bearcats this evening with 20 points and five rebounds. Five different players scored at least six points.

Iyana Abrams (9 rebounds), Sheridan Taylor (8 rebounds) and Folashade Akinde (8 rebounds) contributed on the defensive end. Francess Henry and Kiara Johnson notched three steals each.

Leslie Mencia led the Lightning with a double-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.

The women’s basketball team will return to action on Saturday, January 14, with a 1:00 pm CUNYAC contest at the College of Staten Island Dolphins.