JAMAICA, NY --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College women's basketball took the court Saturday afternoon for their CUNYAC home opener with a 57-46 setback to the Hunter College Hawks (5-5, 2-0) on Cardinal Basketball Alumni Appreciation Day inside York College Gymnasium.  
 

The Cardinals raced out to a six-point lead capped by back-to-back buckets from Mac-Dege Dessources for a 6-0 advantage 1:41 in.  Hunter responded moments later with 10-unanswered points to grab a 13-8 edge with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter. York regained a brief lead in the second period as Dessources' three-point play tied the game Destiny Drummond followed with a layup at the 4:57 mark for the 20-17 lead.  Hunter would then use a 10-0 run over the final 4:21 to take a 27-20 advantage into intermission.

York scored five-straight points early in the third to get as close as two (29-27) with 8:03 showing on the clock before the Hawks put together a 10-0 spurt to extend their lead to 12 (39-27) with 2:51 left.  The Cardinals were outscored by one (14-13) in the final 10 minutes and pulled within eight (43-35) on Drummond's layup to open the fourth-quarter scoring. The Hawks strung together an 8-2 run to grab a game-high 14-point lead (51-37) with 6:54 remaining.  York would outplay Hunter with a 9-6 scoring edge in the final 6:02, but were unable to overcome the deficit.

Dessources led York with 16 points, 23 rebounds (eight offensive), four blocks and two steals in 37 minutes of action to register her 19th-career double-double (sixth of season).  Drummond went for 11 points (5-of-11 FG) and three steals off the bench. Ellma Hodzic captained the Cardinal offense with seven assists (tied career-high).  
Janine Conway scored 16 points to go with four steals in leading Hunter to victory.  Phoebe Valenton netted 10 and nabbed three steals while Maya Thompson tallied eight points and 12 rebounds.  

York connected on 34.5 percent from the field (20-of-58), 14.3 percent from 3-point range (1-of-7) and 62.5 percent from the free-throw line (5-of-8) as Hunter hit on 29.9 percent from the floor (23-of-77),15.8 percent from long distance (6-of-38) and 62.5 percent from the charity stripe (5-of-8).  The Cardinals won the boards battle, 52-43, scoring seven second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. York also outplayed Hunter in points in the paint (34-30) and bench scoring (18-10) while the Hawks owned the edge in steals (10-6), assists (18-16) and converted 27 Cardinal turnovers into 19 points.  Both teams drew even in blocks (4-4). 

The Cardinals (4-7, 1-2 CUNYAC) continue their five-game homestand Monday (Jan.6) at 5:30 p.m. with a matchup against the College of Staten Island Dolphins (4-7) inside York College Gymnasium.

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