BRONX, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury women's basketball team fell on the road Saturday afternoon against the Lehman Lightning in the opening round of the seventh annual CUNYAC Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, 104-74, from APEX Arena in Bronx, New York. With the loss, Old Westbury (2-8) dropped its fifth straight game and will be back in action Sunday to face the Anderson Ravens (0-9) in the consolation game at 12 p.m. Lehman (9-2) will take on the Washington & Jefferson Presidents (6-2) at 2 p.m. in the championship.
Jasmine Robinson dropped in two layups as she scored four of Old Westbury's six points to jump out to an early 6-3 lead 3:09 into play. In a tightly played first-half, Lehman took the lead for good with a 9-0 run from 14:56 to 13:09 for a 12-6 advantage. Down by seven with just under nine minutes to play in the opening half, Old Westbury answered with a 7-0 run to knot the game at 24-all with 7:05 remaining. Moments later, Lehman put together a 9-0 run to go up 37-28 with 2:05 left on the first-half clock. Old Westbury outscored Lehman 9-3 in the final 1:50 to go into the half down by three, 40-37.
Despite Old Westbury shooting 45.2 percent from the field in the second-half, Lehman used a series of big runs to put the game out of reach for the Panthers. Lehman jumped out of the starting gates with an 11-2 run to go up 51-39. Old Westbury trimmed the deficit to seven, 51-44, with 17:29 remaining. Lehman would answer with a 17-4 run to make it a 68-48 game while holding a double-digit lead over the final 16:57, including a 20-point advantage for the remaining 11:59.
DeAndra Scott's 22 points (9-15 FG) led three other Panthers in double-digit scoring. Scott chipped in with eight rebounds and Robinson followed with 16 points and three steals while Clarissa Gallagher added 14 points and eight rebounds (tied career-high). Nikki Alexander recorded career-highs of 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Lehman finished with three scorers with 20+ points and in total, five in double-digits led by Amely Del Rosario game-high 26 points, five steals and five assists. Shalya Nieves added a monster 23 point, 15 rebound double-double while Amani Lighthouse followed with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Genesis Liberato scored 22 points and Jennifer Navarro chipped in with 15.
In the end, Old Westbury shot 41.3 percent from the field (26-63), 33.3 percent from three-point range (7-21) and 50 percent from the free-throw line (15-30) as Lehman connected on 43 percent from the floor (40-93), 24.4 percent from long distance (10-41) and 66.7 percent from the charity stripe (14-21). Lehman won the boards battle, 54-49, while scoring 24 points off 19 offensive rebounds. Lehman also scored 28 points off Old Westbury's 29 turnovers (tied season-high).
The last time Old Westbury allowed 100 points was against Farmingdale State in a 104-92 loss on January 24, 2009.
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