New York, NY – The women's basketball team hosted their downtown CUNYAC rivals, Baruch, in league action earlier this evening. The game lived up to the hype and went into overtime with the Hawks on the low end of the scoreboard, 63-61 after a last second turnover. The loss drops the Purple and Gold to 2-4 on the season and 0-1 in league action.
Offensively, Hunter was led by
Kristina Krslovic's double-double performance that featured 13 points and as many rebounds.
Kimberly Lau played 41 minutes on the court and was the team-high scorer with 14 points; nine of them coming from behind the arc.
Maya Thompson also netted double figures with 12 points.
It was a slow start for both sides as the teams combined for five turnovers in the opening minutes. The Hawk's led early 4-0 proved to be their only, and largest lead until the fourth quarter. They fell behind by six at 21-15 and slipped into an eight point hole shortly after. On two separate occasions, Lau knocked down big three pointers to bring her team back to within three points. Baruch had the final basket with Elissa Leung drilling a trey in the closing moments of the half to give the visitors a 39-33 lead at the break.
Despite facing an eight-point deficit in the third, Head Coach
John Garrett's squad managed to out-score their challengers 12-8 in the quarter to pull within striking distance. Lau once again connected from downtown with 35 seconds left to make it a two-point affair heading into the fourth.
Two quick buckets from Thompson to open the quarter gave Hunter the lead. The score was knotted at 57 apiece with just under a minute left to play. After trading time outs,
Nia Chung lofted a last second shot for the win but bounced just off the rim to force overtime.
Thomspon and Chung made good on their attempts from the floor and gave the Purple and Gold a 61-57 lead. Baruch came back to tie the game at 61 apiece with 25 second left. With Hunter possessing the ball, Lau had a costly turnover in which Castillo capitalized on a fast-break, game winning layup to shut the door on Hunter, 63-61.
Hunter resumes play on Tuesday, December 7 when they take on Pratt Institute in Brooklyn at 7pm.
