Box Score

New York, NY – Senior center Juanita Whyms (Far Rockaway, NY/Stella Maris) had her 15th double-double of the season with game highs of 15 points and 17 rebounds to help lead the Hawks to a thrilling 62-57victory over Lehman College in the semifinals of the 2010 CUNYAC / Con Edison Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament on Wednesday at Nat Holman Gymnasium on the campus of CCNY.

After trailing for most of the first half, the second-seeded Hawks captured a 32-30 lead with five seconds left in the first, which is how the score stood at halftime. Hunter then used a 9-4 run to take a seven point lead four minutes into the second half. However, Lehman stayed with the Hawks the whole way, chipping away at the lead and eventually regained the lead following a jumper by freshman center Alicia McDaniel with 5:54 left in the game.

Tied at 53 with 4:40 left, junior guard Shamar Stewartson (Springfield Gardens, NY/Far Rockaway) sank her fourth three-pointer of the game to give the Hawks a 53-50 and they never looked back as they took care of business from the free throw line to advance to the program’s first CUNYAC Championship game since the 2004-05 season.

Stewartson finished the game with 14 points, while senior guard Shay Branch El-Vielot (Cambria Heights, NY/Canarsie) scored 12 points, and junior guard Megan McKenna (Rockaway, NY/Midwood) scored ten points. Senior guard Deseree Boler (Bronx, NY/Patapsco) also added nine points, five steals and five assists.

The Hawks will now face two-time defending champion Baruch College in the championship game on Saturday, February 27 at Nat Holman Gymnasium. Despite a long standing rivalry between Hunter and Baruch in various CUNYAC sponsored sports, this will be the first meeting between the two in the women’s basketball championship game. The Bearcats will be attempting to win their program’s fourth title, while the Hawks are competing for the program’s eighth championship.