BRONX, NY - The CMSV women's basketball team took on Lehman College on Wednesday night, in a non-conference matchup of two Bronx teams separated by a mere three and a half miles. The Dolphins lost 74-73 to the Lightning, falling to 7-7 on the year.
Kristen Merrell led the Dolphins tying a season high with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. The sophomore also grabbed nine rebounds. Alison Clarke chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds, while
Theresa Carey added 11 points.
Christina Barone stuffed the stat sheet, scoring six points, dishing out 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Both teams came out on fire in the first quarter as he lead changed six times with the Dolphins shooting 8-of-15 from the field but still trailed their inter-borough rivals 22-20 after 10 minutes of play.
Both teams slowed down in the second quarter as each team scored just 13 points apiece as Leham would lead 35-33 at halftime. Merrell was nearly perfect in the first half, scoring 15 of her 22 points, going 6-for-6 from the field including 2-of-2 from distance, her only miss was from the free throw line, as she went 1-for-2.
The Dolphins finally took the lead in the 3rd quarter with 6:52 remaining on a jumper by Carey to make the score 43-42. The teams would go back and forth for the remainder of the quarter with CMSV taking a two-point lead two different times only to see the Lightning answer with points of their own to tie the game.
Brittany Carroll hit a three pointer with 17 seconds left in the 3rd quarter to give the Dolphins their largest lead of the game at 59-54 only to have the Lightning answer with a 3 of their own six seconds later to cutting the Dolphins to one at the end of three quarters.
In the fourth quarter the Lightning took the lead less than a minute into play and would expand their lead to as much as eight points with 4:31 to go. Down the stretch the Dolphins would go on an 11-4 run but were unable to get over the hump.
After
Kelly Nola sank two free throws with 44 seconds left to cut the lead to 72-70, CMSV was unable to hold on the defensive end allowing the Lightning to get a layup with the shot clock winding down giving Lehman a 74-70 lead.
The Dolphins return to action Tuesday January 12 at 5:30 when they will take on Purchase College in a key Skyline Conference matchup.
