By Dylan Butler
It was a game the York women’s basketball team probably shouldn’t have been in. The sixth-seeded Cardinals, fielding a team of seven freshmen, were still in its CUNYAC quarterfinal game against two-time defending champs College of Staten Island late in the second half.
Despite the 71-61 loss to the third-seeded Dolphins Sunday at Hunter College, York didn’t hang their heads. The future at the Jamaica school is bright.
One of the brightest spots for the Lady Cardinals is freshman point guard Esperanza Visbal, who scored 19 points before fouling out with 1:59 left in the game. Fellow freshman Tashana Watson, an August Martin graduate, led York (7-17) with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
CSI (18-8) took the game over on a 13-0 second-half run to push the Dolphins ahead 54-50 with 11:12 left to play. April Nelson led the College of Staten Island with 19 points, including four three-pointers, while CUNY Rookie of the Year Jacclyn Rock added 14 points and 21 rebounds.
The York men, who also garnered the No. 6 seed in the CUNYAC tournament, won their game, upsetting third-seeded Lehman College, 71-55 at Hunter College Saturday.
After a less than stellar first half which saw the Cardinals trail Lehman, 32-21, York needed a wake up call. Former Campus Magnet standout Roberto Tapia provided that spark.
The sophomore guard was 0-of-5 in the first half, but turned his game around with 11 minutes left. Tapia nailed three three-pointers en route to a team-high 16 points to lift York to the quarterfinal win.
The difference, York coach Ron St. John said, was cutting down on turnovers. The Cardinals turned the ball over 16 times in the first half and 29 times in the game.
“If we kept our turnovers down in the second half it would allow us to get back in the game and not allow Lehman to stretch out their lead,” he said.
Dwayne Uriri had 11 points and six rebounds, Shawn Simms added 12 points and Quincy Oudkerk led the Cardinals (13-13) with eight rebounds and shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 3:25 of the game.
Lehman (17-9) was led by Edgar Lugo, who netted a game-high 18 points.
York advances to the semifinals to take on No. 2 Medgar Evers (19-7) in a game scheduled for Tuesday. The winner plays either Staten Island or Baruch in the CUNYAC championship game Friday at 7:45 p.m.
Queensborough women fall in CUNYAC finals
The Queensborough Community College women’s basketball team had good news and bad news Friday. The good news is the Lady Tigers advanced to the tournament final for the second straight year. The bad news? Their opponent was four-time defending CUNY champ, Borough of Manhattan Community College.
BMCC easily made it five straight titles, cruising to a 53-22 victory at BMCC. Coached by Rodney Carr, the Panthers became only the second team in CUNY history to win five straight conference titles. The Queensborough men won five consecutive from 1994-98.
Leading the way for BMCC (18-7) was tournament MVP Crystal Jones. The sophomore from Queens had six points, seven rebounds and a game-high seven steals.
Queensborough (7-9) was led by Amoy Kirlew, who had six points and 13 rebounds.
The Queensborough men’s basketball team trailed by 22 in the second half of its CUNY semifinal game last Wednesday, but rallied to cut its deficit to one and had a chance to win the game on Jeffrey Boone’s three-point attempt.
But the shot rimmed out as the Tigers came up just short, 92-90.
Boone led Queensborough (7-15) with 23 points while Roderick Stevens, whose free throw with 11 seconds left gave BMCC (11-12) a two-point lead, netted 20 points.
Former Cardozo standout Cargill named to CUNY First-Team
Lauren Cargill, a 5-foot-9 junior from Valley Stream, who was a standout at Cardozo, was named to first-team All-CUNY, the league announced Thursday.
Cargill, a guard at CCNY, led the league in scoring, averaging 23.1 points per game. She also averaged 8.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
Also on the first team is Queens resident Florena Rhodes, a 5-foot-9 sophomore forward at Lehman. She averaged 21 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 steals per game.
Queens residents Desirae Ross, a 5-foot-8 senior guard at Lehman, and Tashana Watson, a 5-foot-9 freshman guard at York, were both named to the All-CUNY second team.
On the men’s side, former Hillcrest standout Howard Hutchinson, a 6-foot-4 senior forward at John Jay, was named to the All-CUNY second team while Queens resident Luis Chavez, a 6-foot-2 freshman guard at Lehman, was named men’s basketball Rookie of the Year.
Women’s basketball
Georgetown 60, St. John’s 53. Mary Pat Statler had 18 points, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, and Shemika Stevens added 15 points for the Red Storm (3-22, 0-14) in a six-point Big East loss Saturday at Alumni Hall. Georgetown (12-12, 4-9) was led by Rebekkah Brunson, who had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Mary Lisicky, who netted 14 points.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
