New York, NY- The Hunter women's basketball team defeated visiting SUNY Old Westbury 76-61 in the first game of the Hunter College Tip-Off Tournament earlier this evening.

Janine Conway had 13 of her 21 points in the first half and finished as the high scorer of the game. She added three steels and three assists in the effort. Senior captain Theresa Leung had 17 points with five rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes of action. Rounding out the three headed scoring attack was senior Phoebe Valenton who poured in 16 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-5 from the line. The squad tallied 17 assists as a team and shot a blistering 50.8% from the field.

The first half of the game was a back and forth battle with Old Westbury taking a 17-15 lead after the first quarter. The Purple and Gold came back in the second and out scored the visitors 19-15, and enjoyed a two point lead at the half, 34-32.

In the third, with the score knotted at 38 apiece, the hosts went on a 9-0 run, book ended with deuces from Leung. Over the final 1:28, Hunter closed the quarter on a a 7-2 run to outdistance themselves by 11 points from the Panthers. Hunter did not allow their challengers to get any closer than to within seven points in the fourth and closed the books with a triple from Valenton to seal the deal with their first win of the season.

Hunter will play for the Tip-Off championship tomorrow at 2pm against Rowan. The consolation game will feature Old Westbury against Western Connecticut at noon.




 

 

 
Old Westbury was led by Davida Warren who had 18 points, and 14 rebounds in 39 minutes.  The Hawks are back in the championship game of the tournament for the 6^th straight year, looking to take back the championship trophy, at 2pm, against the winner of the Rowan vs Western Connecticut game.
 
Old Westbury will play in the consolation game at 12 noon.