Bronx, N.Y. – On Friday evening, January 25, the Hunter College women's basketball team took on the Lightning of Lehman College in a CUNYAC matchup. Behind solid play on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, the Hawks held on to a five point halftime lead and used a late second half surge to lock up their sixth victory of the season, 56-50. With the win, the Purple and Gold move to 6-12, 5-5 CUNYAC while Lehman slips to 3-15, 3-7 CUNYAC.

Nicole Lenard was Hunter's high scorer with 19 points to go along with her seven rebounds and five steals. Dimitra Thomopoulos posted a double-double with 10 points and as many boards while Melinda Seide was the third Hawk to score in double digits with a 12 point effort. Kristen Sells and Ayanna Hudson pulled down a combined 23 rebounds and had a total of 13 points in the win.

For the Lightning, the duo of Keonti Powell and Jennifer Navaro did most of the leg work, each dropping 20 points while combining for 12 rebounds. Luisayra Madrigal, Jasmine Castro-Lopez, Shameeka Reed and Stephanie Miranda all shared Lehman's remaining 10 points.

The opening seven minutes featured four ties with Lehman holding the upper hand for the majority of time, going ahead by no more than three points. Each side struggled from the field with the Hawks connecting on just 9-33 (.272) from the floor while Lehman counteracted that with a 7-31 (.225) performance.

At the 14:18 mark, Lenard connected on her second bucket of the game to break the third tie of the half. With the scoreboard reading 12-9 in favor of the Hawks, a total of six missed shots ensued before Lenard drilled a triple to give her team a six point cushion; their largest to that point.  With 8:38 left, Navarro sunk a shot from downtown to make it a three point affair. However, back to back layups from Thomopoulos and Lenard sparked a 7-0 run which blossomed into a 10 point advantage in favor of the Hawks.

Over the final 4:59, Hunter went cold, missing their final eight shots while Lehman was able to close the gap to five, sending the game into halftime with the score reading 24-19.

Hunter clung to a six point lead through the opening five minutes of the second, but the momentum quickly shifted in Lehman's favor when Reed drilled a triple to spark a 7-0 run which turned the tides of the scoreboard to give them their first lead since the opening stages of the first.

At the 8:39 mark, Lehman held a two point lead which would grow to as much as five. However, Hunter responded with nine unanswered points in two and a half minutes to set the score at 50-44 with just 2:27 left to play. Lehman was unable to close the gap in the final minutes, getting no closer than within five and seeing the clock wind down to zero in favor of Hunter.

The Hawks return to action on Monday, January 28 when they head into Brooklyn for a CUNYAC contest against the Cougars of Medgar Evers College. Tipoff is scheduled for a 6pm start.