New York, N.Y. - Hunter College women's basketball took down Brooklyn College on Friday night in a battle for first place in the conference with a final score of 69-53.

The Hawks improved to 11-8 and 10-1 in CUNYAC, while handing the Bulldogs their second league loss of the season to drop to 8-2.

Hunter shot out to a lead in the first quarter, scoring the last seven points to lead by eight going into the second. The Bulldogs scored immediately to start the second, but Hunter's Janine Conway responded with a three-pointer and Jade Aponte followed it up with another to give the Hawks a 27-19 lead.

Brooklyn cut the advantage to just two points, but Marlena Budna and Phoebe Valenton contributed points in the last minute to allow Hunter a 34-29 edge at halftime.

The Purple and Gold held onto the lead in the third and then opened up the fourth with a basket from behind the arc from Aponte. From there the Hawks outscored the Bulldogs, 19-10 to secure the victory, 69-53.

Aponte led all scorers with 25 points, adding eight rebounds and four steals. Conway followed with 17 points, while Patterson chipped in eight boards in the win.

The team returns to action on February 1 when they travel to Lehman for a 5 p.m. game.