New York, N.Y.- The Hunter College women's basketball upset Brooklyn College at home on Tuesday evening, 55-49, snapping the Bulldog's six game streak.
The Bulldogs were tied for first in the conference ahead of today's game but the loss to Hunter dropped them to 7-2 in CUNYAC play (12-7 overall) and into the second slot. The Hawks improved to 5-4 in conference and 9-11 overall with the win. Hunter showcased its improvement in the two team's second match up at the season, after dropping a 75-56 decision to the Bulldogs on Jan. 10.
Hunter got on the board first with a bucket from
Eliah Yode, before the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run. Back-to-back baskets from
Katie Burke put the Hawks within two until Brooklyn took back momentum going up 15-6 with under two minutes in the quarter. A three from Nina Hennessey at the buzzer cut the deficit to six at 15-9 to end the period. Hunter came to life in the second quarter, outscoring Brooklyn 19-3. By 5:05 Hunter had evened the score at 18-18 and silenced the visitors for the remainder of the quarter taking a 10 point lead by half time. The Hawks capitalized on Brooklyn's penalties, as they tallied nine points off of free throws to aid in their 28-18 lead.
The Purple and Gold continued to lead into the third period going up by as much as 12. A spurt from the Bulldogs at 1:35 put the visitors within five, their closest of the second half so far. Despite being outscored 15-12 in the quarter, the Hawks' big second quarter was enough to hold off Brooklyn, as Hunter headed into the final quarter of play with a 40-33 edge.
Within the first two minutes, Hunter built its lead to 45-36, after
Kennedy DeRuy grabbed a steal and drained one from beyond the arc. A momentum swing to Brooklyn over the next six minutes put the Bulldogs on top for the first time since 4:33 in the second quarter, with just over two minutes left in regulation. The Bulldogs' offense wouldn't get any farther as the Hawks silenced them for the remainder of the game.
Erin Cosio stepped up for Hunter, netting six points including back-to-back threes, for a six point victory.
Alexa Charles put up a stellar performance, leading all scorers with 23 points. She also grabbed 15 rebounds and four steals, as she leads the conference averaging 5.3 per game. Cosio added to Hunter's success and she put up 14 points and five rebounds, while DeRuy led the Hawks' bench with seven points and a pair of steals.
The two teams were evenly match as as Hunter outperformed the Bulldogs from the field at 32.1% compared to their opponent's 21.7%, but fell short to Brooklyn's 26.1 three-point-percentage, as they averaged 19.2% and couldn't match the Bulldog's 65% from the line as Hunter shot for 56%. Despite being outrebounded 56-44, the Hawks capitalized on the Bulldog's mistakes, forcing 24 turnovers which the team converted for 22 points, compared to 21 for 17 points from the visitors.
Hunter returns to the court on Feb. 1 for a 5:30 p.m. game at Baruch.
