BOX SCORE

New York, N.Y. – The Hunter College women's basketball team used a true team effort as three players finished in double-digits to defeat host team #4 John Jay Bloodhounds, 62-61 in last night's CUNYAC/Con Edison Quarterfinal matchup. With the win, the #5 Hawks will face #1 seed Baruch College in the semi-finals on Wednesday night at 6:00pm.

Hunter was led by Kristen Sells who scored 23 points all in the second half on 8-for-14 shooting, including 6-for-9 from behind the three point line. After being held to no points in the first half, including a 0-for-5 from the floor, the Stony Brook, N.Y. native went 8-for-9 in the second half, including 6-for-7 from downtown. Teammate Nicole Lenard added 22 points, six rebounds and six assists for Hunter, while Ayanna Hudson had game-highs of 19 rebounds and eight assists.

John Jay was led in scoring by Victoria Story with 17 points, to go along with six rebounds. Meanwhile teammates Jamecia Forsythe and Aneska Tejada had 16 points each. Forsythe grabbed a team-high 18 rebounds and had a game-high five blocked shots. Tejada connected on a team-high seven field goals.

The Hawks trailed the entire first half, and in the early minutes of the second half. The Bloodhounds biggest lead of the game was eight when they were up 28-20 at halftime.

Hunter started the second half strong, outscoring John Jay 19-6 to take a 39-34 after a good jumper by Hudson to lead with 11:51 remaining. The Purple and Gold led by as much as six later in the half, and the Hawks took a 48-42 advantage with 7:40 to go on a three pointer by Sells.
 
But the Bloodhounds did not cave in. Instead they countered with a 9-2 run and retook the lead as John Jay went up 51-50 with 4:49 to go. Moments later, John Jay led by as much as two and was up 55-53 with 3:43 to go.
 
Hunter though scampered off an 8-0 run to lead 61-55 with 1:49 to go. Back-to-back three point field goals by Sells capped the run as Hunter appeared to have taken control of the game.
 
But the game proved to be far from over as John Jay scored six in a row to tie it. First Forsythe connected on a pair of shots from the foul line with 1:31 left to cut the lead to four. Then a turnover by Hunter gave John Jay the ball back, and Tejada put home a lay-up with just under a minute to go to make the score 61-59.
 
Then Forsythe blocked a Lenard lay-up attempt and grabbed the rebound with thirty-eight seconds left to give possession to John Jay. Tejada connected on a jumper off the backboard with twenty-two seconds to go to tie the game for the ninth time.
 
But with five seconds remaining, Lenard was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to give Hunter a 62-61 lead.
 
On the ensuing possession, the Bloodhounds committed a turnover to give Hunter the ball back with 1.3 seconds to go. Hunter averted a turnover or a foul on the inbounds play as time expired.

“Making that last shot felt awesome but winning the game was a team effort. Everyone on our team stepped up and contributed when it meant the most,” said team captain Nicole Lenard.”

The Hawks will now play the Bearcats of Baruch College on Wednesday at 6:00pm, hosted by CCNY.