NEW YORK, NY - The Hunter College women's basketball team defeated Lehman College 62-53 in front of a boisterous Hunter Homecoming crowd.

Megan McKenna led all scorers with 18 points, while Kristen Markoe added 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Nicole Lenard chipped in 12 points.

The Hawks jumped out to a 8-0 lead to start the game, holding the Lightning scoreless for the first seven minutes of play. Hunter shot 32 percent from the floor for the opening half (9-for-28), as Johanna Keilwitz led all scorers with seven points. Lehman managed just 17 percent shooting (6-for-35) in the first 20 minutes of play.

A Lehman jumper just eight seconds into the second half started a 7-0 run to close the gap to four. But McKenna's layup less than three minutes later started a 6-0 Hunter run that put the Hawks back up by ten, 33-23. The Lightning rallied back, finally tying the game at 39 with a little over twelve minutes left. Markoe went to the foul line and connected on both free throws, only to see Lehman take their first lead of the game on a three-pointer at the ten-minute mark. Alease Vaughn's layup at the ten minute mark gave the Hawks the lead once again, only to see another three-pointer put the Lehman up 47-45 with six minutes left. McKenna tied the game with a layup of her, and after a steal by Lenard drove the lane once again to regain the lead for good, 49-47. The Hawks pulled away for good after that, outscoring the Lightning 13-6 and connecting on all six free throws down the stretch.

The Lightning were a different offensive team in the second half, shooting 41 percent (15-for-37) with one-third of those shots coming from the thee-point arc (5-for-12).

The Hawks also stepped up their offensive effort in the second half, shooting 43 percent from the floor (13-for-30). Markoe and McKenna pounded the paint, and made half their shots from the floor. Both Markoe and Lenard were a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line as well.

Hunter (3-3, 2-0 CUNYAC) returns to action this Tuesday night, hosting Vassar College in the Hunter Sportsplex at 7:00pm.