New York, N.Y.- The John Jay women's basketball team earned their first conference and road win on the season as the Bloodhounds defeated Hunter College 67-60 at the Hunter College Sportsplex on Thursday evening.
Lashannen Hogue (Yonkers, NY/ Roosevelt) led the way for the Bloodhounds with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. She shot 10-for-20 from the floor and dished out five assists in the win.
Fellow teammate Melissa Escalera (Bronx, NY/ Adali E Stevenson) chipped in with 20 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks for the Bloodhounds.
John Jay led most of the way in the first half and went into the locker room with a four-point lead (33-29).
But the Hawks opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 37-33 lead.
Hunter led by as much as seven midway through the second half (48-41 with 10:27 remaining). But John Jay went on a 5-0 run to narrow the deficit to two capped by a Michelle Wallace (Flushing, NY/ Robert F Kennedy) field goal with 8:18 to play.
After the Hawks went back up by four (52-48), the Bloodhounds went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. The run started with Hogue connecting on a pair of free throws, followed by three point field goals by Ganimete Ukperaj (Bellmore, NY/ John F Kennedy) and Escalera on back-to-back possessions, with each assissting on the others trey.
For the game Ukperaj had eight points on 3-for-4 shooting, including 2-for-2 from downtown. She also contributed with three assists in the win.
That gave John Jay a 56-52 lead with 4:54 to play. But the Bloodhounds would extend the lead to as much as 10 with less than a minute to go capped by a pair of free throws by Nasira Johnson (Newark, NJ/ West Side) with :57 showing on the clock.
Hunter would get to within five, but no closer as John Jay leaves the Upper East Side with the seven point win.
John Jay returns to action on Sat. Dec. 9 against Rutgers-Newark at the Doghouse at 4 p.m.
