Box Score
New York, NY – The John Jay women’s basketball committed 18 first half turnovers, which led to 22 Baruch points as the visiting Bearcats took a 34-21 lead at halftime and defeated the Bloodhounds 69-50 in a battle for first place at the Doghouse on Wednesday.
The Bearcats led from start to finish scoring the first six points of the game. Baruch built a 12 point lead (17-5) midway through the first half before John Jay used an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to six (19-13).
But Baruch spurted away late in the first half, and with John Jay trailing 23-16, Baruch went on a 9-0 run capped by a fast break lay-up by Chiresse Paradise (Chicago, Ill./ Rich Central) with 59 seconds remaining that would give the defending conference champions a 32-16 advantage. The Bloodhounds closed out the final minute on a mini 5-2 run to cut the deficit to 13 (34-21) at halftime.
The Bloodhounds would never get within 12 points of the lead in the second half. John Jay trailed by a dozen (54-42) with 6:23 to play on a three point field goal by Janise Higgins (Cambria Heights, NY/ Christ the King). But Baruch used a 13-4 run to grab a 21 point lead (67-46) with just under a minute to go en route to victory.
John Jay was led by Melissa Escalera (Bronx, NY/ Adali E. Stevenson) with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Lashannen Hogue (Yonkers, NY/ Roosevelt) contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds
Baruch was led by Paradise with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Dominique McClendon (Chicago, Ill./ Seaside (Calif.) chipped in with 10 points and nine assists.
The loss drops John Jay to 14-7 (7-2 CUNYAC), while Baruch is now 14-6 (9-0 CUNYAC) and has a commanding lead in CUNYAC.
John Jay will return to action on Sat. Jan. 27 at CCNY, 2 p.m.
