NEW YORK, NY – The Hunter College women's basketball team used a solid second half effort to top the visiting College of Staten Island Dolphins, 62-48 at the Hunter Sportsplex on Friday evening.

The Hawks improve to 8-11 and 6-1 in the CUNYAC to remain in first place atop the CUNYAC North Division while the Dolphins fall to 7-10 and 4-4 in conference competition.

Senior Megan McKenna led all scorers with 21 points today to guide the Hawks while Kristen Markoe and Shatira Hamlet each added 12 each. Markoe notched her second-consecutive double-double, adding 11 rebounds. Alease Vaughan also registered a double-double this evening, tallying 10 points and 10 boards in the Hawk victory.

Hunter stretched a three-point first half lead to nine points after going on a 10-6 run to start the stanza to push in front, 35-26 with 15:09 left to play. CSI attempted a comeback but could only cut the lead to six points—on two occasions as the Hawks used stealthy defense, forcing 12 Dolphin turnovers for 13 points. The Hawks took a 17 point advantage—it's largest of a half on a Hamlet layup at the 3:56 mark to put the game safely out of reach. Hunter outscored the Dolphins 39-28 in the half to capture the 62-48 victory.

The first half was a defensive battle with the Hawks taking a slim 23-20 advantage into the locker room thanks in large part to 13 first half points from McKenna. Despite 13 turnovers, the Hawks Hunter led by as many as five points with 44 seconds remaining before the Dolphins converted a late bucket with three on the clock to go to make it a three point game.
Hunter held the Dolphins to just 27% shooting from the field today and 20% from three-point range. Nikki Fabozzi finished with 14 points to lead the Dolphins.

The Hawks continue CUNYAC play this Monday, January 30 when Hunter welcomes the City College of New York Beavers to the Sportsplex for a 5pm matchup.