Jamaica, NY – The #2 seeded women's basketball team suffered a loss to the #1 Brooklyn Bulldogs earlier this evening in the CUNYAC Women's Basketball Championship Game. Despite a valiant effort, the Hawks were unable to overcome a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, falling by a final score of 62-57.
 
Theresa Leung was Hunter's top scorer with 17 points while Janine Conway, who played nearly the entire game, posted 16 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing nine boards. Kristina Krslovic made her presence felt on both ends of the court, scoring seven points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists while Maya Thompson and Phoebe Valenton had an even split of 12 points. Leung also notched her 1,000th career point in the loss.
 
Overall, Hunter shot better than Brooklyn from the floor, sinking nearly 33 percent of their attempts, connecting on a third of their tries from downtown, and making 13-16 from the charity stripe. Defensively, they had more steals and registered five blocks against the Bulldogs.
 
Their counterparts were led by Sarah James' 21 points and a double-double performance from Chanel Jemmott who scored 14 points and snagged 24 rebounds.
 
A layup by Leung to kick the game off proved to be the only points Hunter (16-11, 11-3 CUNYAC) would score over the opening 4:56 as they slipped into an early six point hole. With just a tick under one minute left, Conway made good on a jumper while Thompson closed the quarter with a deuce to give their team the 14-11 edge.
 
The second quarter was a testament as to how even both teams played each other. It featured five lead changes and four ties. Conway drilled a trey with just under two minutes to go but a Taylor George lay in brought the game even at 24. Brooklyn wound up scoring four straight to close the half with Brooklyn leading by a slight 28-26 margin.
 
At the 3:27 mark in the third, the Purple and Gold slipped into their largest deficit to this point, falling behind by seven. However, a big three pointer from Brooke DeGiulio followed by two made free throws from Krslovic brought them back to within two. Closing the third, the Hawks found themselves down six.
 
In the fourth quarter, they once again found themselves down by seven, but continued to chip away at the deficit. Two points apiece from Valenton and Conway made it a three-point game with 4:28 left to play. However, Brooklyn responded quickly with seven unanswered points to go ahead by 10 with 47 seconds left. It proved too much to overcome as a Brooklyn hit four of their final six free throws down the stretch to seal the game.

For their efforts, Conway and Valenton were named to the CUNYAC All-Tournament Team.
 
Hunter will now await to see if they will be competing in the ECAC Tournament. Check back with www.huntercollegeathletics.com for the most up-to-date details.

2020 CUNYAC All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Chanel Jemmott, Brooklyn
Sarah James, Brooklyn
Ericka James, Brooklyn
Janine Conway, Hunter
Phoebe Valenton, Hunter
Nyasha Howard, John Jay
Mac-Dege Dessources, York