NEW YORK, NY – The Baruch College Bearcats became three-time defending Conference Champions with a 93-84 victory over #2 seeded Hunter College Hawks in the 2010 City University of New York Athletic Conference / Con Edison Women’s Basketball Championship final played at the City College of New York’s Nat Holman Gymnasium. The Bearcats (23-5) now earn CUNYAC’s Automatic Berth to next week’s NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championships with the victory.
What was a modest, defensive struggle in the first half, Baruch shot 35 percent going into the breaak, up 31-28, even though the Hawks (17-11) shot slightly better at 37.5 percent. Then in the second stanza, the floodgates opened with the teams combining for an amazing 117 points en route to the the highest-scoring CUNYAC title game in the 34-year history of the Women Basktetball Championship (177 total points).
In the second half, the Bearcats led a tightly contested game by the score of 45-42 with 13:55 left, but broke it open by scoring 12 of the next 14 points during a pivotal run to lead 57-44 with 11:50 left in the game.
“It was a very intense game, played with a lot of emotions. We worked hard for 40 minutes tonight," said Baruch Head Coach Machli Joseph. "There were some key plays down the stretch when I felt the confidence and strength in this team coming through. We took every run Hunter had and we responded with our own runs. We played very resilient basketball. It's the kind of effort we need going forward," continued Joseph, who now stands second all-time with four CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship titles.
Hunter stayed close by relying on three-point shooting and managed to cut the lead to 71-65 on a trey by Shamar Stewartson with 4:31 remaining, but the Bearcats consistently responded to each basket by Hunter the rest of the game to never allow the lead to get under six points to clinch the 93-84 victory.
Senior forward Kalea Davis earned Tournament MVP honors this afternoon by scoring her second straight double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds. Junior guard Monique Salmon, the CUNYAC Player of the Year set a new CUNYAC Tournament Record with 14 assists (she currently leads NCAA Division III in assists) and Anika Sierk (22 points) were both named to the All-Tournament Team. Coincidentally on her birthday, Sierk kicked her game into another gear with 14 second-half points to shoot the Bearcats into the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season as well.
“We were confident coming in, but we were cold at the beginning of the game," said Davis, a three-time CUNYAC All-Star with over 1,000 points and rebounds in her four-year career with Baruch. "We eventually settled down and got the nervous thing out of the way. We definitely played in the second half like we are capable of. Our experience in these pressure games really carried us through.”
Junior guard Shamar Stewartson was outstanding for the Hawks with 28 points on 5-of-13 shooting from three point range and high-energy play on both sides of the ball. Senior center Juanita Whyms recorded her 16th double-double of the season with 22 points and a game high 18 rebounds, while senior guard Shay Branch El-Vielot added 12 points and eight rebounds, and junior guard Megan McKenna scored 12 points of her own. For their efforts in the postseason, Whyms and Stewartson were named to the all-tournament team.
Overall, both teams were close in many statistical categories, but the Bearcats won the key battle of the boards with a 58-46 rebounding advantage to record their third CUNYAC championship in four years under Head Coach Machli Joseph.
“I feel like a big rock has been lifted off my shoulders," stated Davis."The emotions that go through you in a game like this are tough to deal with, but I think we took care of them early and got on the straight path towards our goal.”
The NCAA Division III Tournament, which gets underway with first round games on Friday, March 5. The 64 team field and entire tournament schedule will be officially announced on Monday, March 1, at 12:30 pm, via a webcast on NCAA.com. Hunter will now look towards the ECAC Championship Tournament which starts on Wednesday, March 3, with their opponent to be announced on Monday.