JAMAICA, NY --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College women's basketball jumped ahead early and never looked back to notch a non-conference victory Tuesday evening at home against the Purchase College Panthers (0-5) inside York College Gymnasium to record head coach Kimani Jackson's first-career win.  

The Cardinals (1-1) raced out to a quick 11-0 lead as Mac-Dege Dessources scored seven points in the opening 4:51 of play.  Purchase answered with six unanswered points to slice its deficit to five (11-6) at the end of the first period.  Alicia Gumbs dropped in back-to-back layups to put York back up by 10 (20-10) with 4:42 remaining in the half.  York went up by 12 before Purchase responded with a three-pointer by Ariella Johnson with 17 seconds left to make it a 30-21 game at intermission. 

York went on a 12-0 scoring spree during the third stanza to build a game-high 20 point lead as Ellma Hodzic poured in eight during that stretch to make it a 44-24 contest with 5:52 showing on the third-quarter clock.  Playing with a double-digit lead for a span of 17:11, the Cardinals held a 16-point cushion (60-44) at the 3:24 mark.  Purchase chipped away to string together a 15-3 run to pull within four (63-59) with 44 seconds left.  Kristina Sierra sank a free-throw with 29 seconds remaining to settle the scoring to preserve York's five-point win.   

Dessources finished with 17 points (8-of-12 FG), 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocks to pace York.  Hodzic followed with 15 points, six assists and six rebounds while Gumbs and Sierra each tallied 12 points.  Aminata Sagna registered a career-high 14 rebounds and six assists to go with two steals.  

Johnson paced Purchase with a game-high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four steals.  Miya Ritchie (12 points, four steals) and Shamoni Berrios (11 points, seven rebounds) followed with double-digits points.  

York finished the game shooting 47.4 percent from the field (27-of-57), 23.1 percent from three-point territory (6-of-26) and 44.4 percent from the free-throw line (4-of-9) while Purchase landed 30.7 percent from the floor (23-of-75), 19 percent from long distance (4-of-21) and 45 percent from the stripe (9-of-20).  The Cardinals won the boards battle, 48-41, scoring 11 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds.  York also outplayed Purchase in assists (21-12) and blocks (3-2) while the Panthers held the edge in steals (16-7) to score 20 points of 31 Cardinal turnovers.

The Cardinals return to the court on Monday (Dec. 6) for a non-conference bout against the Ramapo College Roadrunners (3-1) at 5:30 p.m. inside the Bradley Center in Mahwah, New Jersey.

For the latest news on the Cardinals, log on to www.yorkathletics.com – the official site of York College athletics. Also, become a follower of the Cardinals on Instagram (@yorkcardinals), Twitter (@yorkcardinals) and YouTube (@yorkathletics), and "LIKE" Us on Facebook (York Athletics).