NEW YORK, NY – The Hunter College women's basketball team put up a fight but an early deficit proved too great to overcome as the rival Baruch Bearcats held on for the 74-51 victory in tonight's CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship Semifinal game at the Nat Holman Gymnasium.

The Hawks fall to 13-14 overall in the season-ending loss while Baruch—the defending CUNYAC champion, improves to 18-9 to head to its fifth-straight CUNYAC Championship final.

Kristen Markoe registered her fourth consecutive double-double and 13^th this season as she led all scorers with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Alease Vaughan added 10 points and five boards while Megan McKenna chipped in with eight in her final game as a Hawk.

The Hawks found themselves down 39-18 at the half as the Bearcats jumped out on a 13-4 run before Shatira Hamlet knocked down a pair of free throws to end the scoring drought and make it 13-6 with 12:38 left to play. The Bearcats were relentless however, going on a 14-0 run across the next 5:28 to push ahead, 27-6.

A deep three from Markoe at 7:10 snapped the Hawks' scoreless streak and make it a 27-9 contest. Markoe, who finished the half with 11 points, drained two more three-pointers to help close the gap but 17 first half turnovers proved costly as the Hawks trailed, 39-18 at the break.

The Hawks performed much better in the second as Baruch outscored Hunter just 35-33 but the damage was already done. Baruch pulled further away and put the game out of reach as the Bearcats opened on a 9-4 run across the first five minutes of the stanza to push ahead, 50-22.

Hunter struggled to find an offensive rhythm today, shooting just 32% from the field (18-of-56) and the Bearcats defensive pressure proved too much as they  forced 27 turnovers and picked up 14 steals en route to victory.    

Jessica Duleba led the Bearcats with 14 points to lead the team.

The Bearcats advance to the CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship Finals where they will face the Brooklyn Bulldogs on Saturday, February 25 at 3:00pm.