NEW YORK --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball tipped off the 2019-20 campaign Friday evening in the Hunter College Tip-Off Tournament inside Hunter College Sportsplex in Manhattan. Despite having four players score in double-digits, the Panthers' (0-1) five-straight season-opening win streak was snapped with a 76-61 road setback to the host Hunter College Hawks (1-1). Old Westbury will play Western Connecticut State University Colonials (1-3), who fell to the Rowan University Profs (2-0) later on in the evening by a final score of 88-86, in Saturday afternoon's consolation game at 12 p.m. The Profs will play the Hawks at 2 p.m. in the championship game.
Trailing 5-2 with 5:46 showing on the first-half clock,
Davida Warren's lay-up ignited a 13-3 Old Westbury run during a span of 3:12 for the team to claim the 15-8 lead. With two minutes remaining, Phoebe Valenton scored four of Hunter's final seven points to pull within two, 17-15, heading into the second quarter. The Panthers opened the second stanza with a brief 7-3 spurt to grow its lead to six (24-18) with 7:09 remaining. The Hawks rallied to close the deficit during the final seven minutes of the quarter and regained the lead for good as Valenton knocked down a jumper at the 1:47 mark (31-30). Janine Conway then drilled a triple 28 seconds later before
Micah Browne sank a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to make it a one possession game for the Panthers, 34-32, heading into the break.
Hunter's lead grew to six to open the third quarter (38-32) before
Ashley Cattle and Warren combined scored six-unanswered points from 7:53 to 6:44 to knot the game at 38. The Hawks used a 16-5 run over the final 6:12 of third-quarter play to extend the lead to double-digits (54-43). With 5:40 left in the fourth quarter, Old Westbury pulled within seven (58-51) courtesy of Cattle's layup before the Hawks pushed its lead to a game-high 15 points with 43 seconds to settle the 76-61 final.
Warren finished with 18 points (4-of-7 FT) and 14 rebounds (nine offensive) to post her 21st-career double-double in leading Old Westbury. In her debut,
Ja'nya Flash followed with 11 points and 14 rebounds (seven offensive) to register her first-career double-double before fouling out the game with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. Browne chipped in 11 points (5-of-6 FT) and dished out five assists while Cattle added 10 points (5-of-8 FG) and three steals.
Conway led the way with 21 points (9-of-16 FG, 2-of-4 3FG) and three steals for Hunter. Leung contributed 17 points (8-of-15 FG) and five assists while Valenton poured in 16 points (5-of-6 FG, 5-of-5 FT) and nabbed three steals. Maya Thompson pulled down six rebounds and swatted away a game-high four shots.
In the end, Old Westbury connected on 34.3 percent (24-of-70) from the field, 14.3 percent (2-of-14) from three-point territory and 61.1 percent (11-18) from the free-throw line. Hunter finished the evening shooting 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the field, 35.0 percent (7-of-20) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the charity stripe. The Panthers held a +23 rebound margin (51-28) while scoring 11 second-chance points off 28 offensive rebounds. Hunter outplayed Old Westbury in assists (17-15), blocks (6-3), steals (13-5), fastbreak points (14-12) and bench points (10-2). The Hawks scored 25 points off 25 Panther miscues.
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