Staten Island, N.Y. - Hunter College women's basketball gave the College of Staten Island its first conference loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Dolphins with a score of 75-62.

The Hawks improved to 5-8 overall and 4-1 in the league. The Dolphins, who were previously first in the CUNYAC standings, fell to 10-4 and 4-1.

Hunter shot 42.9 percent from the field, keeping CSI to a mark of 35.5 percent, while forcing 23 Dolphin turnovers off 15 steals from the Hawks. The Hawks collected 29 points off turnovers in the victory.

The Purple and Gold did not immediately have control of the game, falling behind in the first quarter, but finishing off the last three minutes with a 7-1 run with five points from Janine Conway. The second quarter featured three tied scores as the Hawks found a one-point lead with 7:29 on the clock and spent the rest of the quarter trying to hold off the Dolphins. A three-pointer from Phoebe Valenton in the last minute helped them go up by four points, but CSI responded with a three of their own to go into halftime trailing the Hawks by just one point, 35-34.

Conway gave the Purple and Gold their largest lead of the game so far to start the second, getting a steal and a layup to lead them to a five-point advantage. Jade Aponte topped it off a minute later by converting on a shot from behind the arc, but CSI refused to go away quietly, responding with points of their own on almost every possession. 

With six minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, Hunter led the game by just five points. Aponte hit back-to-back layups as Staten Island made two free throws to fall behind by six points and 3:04 on the clock. From there Ashley Arias scored four-straight points to give the Hawks the lift needed to pull ahead further. The squad outscored CSI 11-4 in the last two minutes of the game to take home the win, 75-62.

Aponte led with 19 points, while Theresa Leung recorded 18 points and seven rebounds. Conway scored 17 points and finished with a team-high six steals in the victory.

The Hawks return to action on Monday when they host Lehman College at the Sportsplex at 5 p.m.