York College

BRONX, NY— Playing against one of the top teams in the CUNY Athletic Conference, the York College women's basketball team threatened to pull off an upset but eventually fell, 81-73, on Wednesday evening.  Despite the loss, freshman Kadisha Wickham had the best game of her young career, scoring 24 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, blocking two shots and swiping four steals.

Lehman, who entered the game with a record of 15-8 and 9-2 in the CUNYAC looked to be the favorite coming into the game against a Lady Cardinal team who sported a 7-14 overall record and a 5-6 CUNYAC mark.  However, York led late in the game and nearly pulled off the victory. 

With 10:24 to play in the first half, York's Elizabeth Padilla connected on a three-pointer to give the Lady Cardinals a 17-11 advantage.  Lehman would eventually close the gap and moved ahead, 32-26, after Tonisha Kirby hit a lay-up with 0:55 left before haltime. 

However York, closed the half scoring the final six points, thanks in point to a four-point play converted by Samantha Marsala.  The game was tied at 32-32 going into the locker room. 

York continued to impress and looked to have an upset in the making as they started the second half.  With York trailing 49-46 and 14:06 to play in the game, York put together a 12-2 run to take a 58-51 lead, it's largest of the game.  Wickham was the key player during the run, netting six of her team's points. York also took advantage of cold stretch by Lehman where the Lightning did not score a point for 3:21 period.   

The Lightning regrouped, however, and retook the lead after a Whitney Barnes lay-up gave Lehman a 63-62 advantage with 6:07 to play.

The game was still close, when Wickham hit another lay-up to cut the Lehman advantage to 75-73 with 1:36 to play.  Two possessions later, Barnes responded with a lay-up of her own to give the Lightning a, more comfortable, four point lead with 1:05 to play.  York then went cold in the final minute of play and Lehman hit its free throws to pull away and take the game.

Also contributing for York was Justina Boatwright who netted 13 points and had four assists. For Lehman, Kelsey Ash recorded a team-high 23 points, while Monique Sampson had 12 points, 12 boards, five steals and six blocked shots. 

York (7-15, 5-7 CUNYAC) will visit Albertus Magnus College tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.