New York, N.Y. - Hunter College women's basketball defeated Brooklyn College on Friday night in front of their home crowd at the Hunter Sportsplex to capture the 2018-19 CUNYAC Championship.
The #1 seeded Hawks trailed for over two quarters of the game, until a three-pointer from
Janine Conway tied it up and helped Hunter to take a lead with five minutes to play. From there the Purple and Gold outscored the #2 ranked Bulldogs 18-8 to seal the victory and win their first conference title since 2004.
Both teams struggled offensively at the start, but Hunter managed to take the first advantage and hold on to it going into the second quarter. Conway opened up the second with a three-pointer, but the Bulldogs quickly caught up, going on a 16-2 run to take a 31-21 lead. Despite the deficit the Hawks scored eight of the last 10 points of the quarter off shots from Conway,
Jade Aponte and
Theresa Leung to head into halftime down by just two (36-34).
Hunter started the third quarter by pulling ahead by one, but the lead didn't last long when the Bulldogs continued to hit shots and free throws, closing out the third quarter with a 51-42 edge over the Hawks.
Things didn't look so great for Hunter when they still trailed by eight points with 6:45 minutes to play, but a full-court press immediately made the difference. After a three from Conway to help the Purple and Gold trail by five, Hunter forced four Brooklyn turnovers over their next four possessions, scoring 13 points in just 56 seconds of play. The momentum completely changed in the one minute span as the Hawks took a five point lead with five minutes on the clock.
The Purple and Gold stayed in control, led by Conway's 15 points in the fourth quarter alone, closing out the championship game on free throws to get the win. It was a team effort in the fourth as Conway, Aponte, Leung,
Christine Patterson and
Phoebe Valenton all contributed points. The Hawks forced ten Bulldog turnovers over the last ten minutes of the game, scoring on seven of those possessions to secure the victory.
Conway led all scorers with 24 points to be named the CUNYAC Most Valuable Player. Aponte was not far behind, recording 19 points and posting a game-high seven steals. Patterson came in clutch for the Hawks in the second half, ending the game with a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds, adding three steals to her stat line.
Ashley Arias helped on the boards in the physical game, registering 15 rebounds. Aponte and Arias were named to the CUNYAC All-Tournament Team for their efforts.
With the win, the Hawks receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They find out who they will face in the first round on Monday, February 25 at 2:30 p.m.
