New York, N.Y.— The John Jay women’s basketball team led much of the way, but saw a double-digit lead slip away late as the Bloodhounds were defeated on the road losing to the City College of New York (CCNY) 59-54 at the Nat Holman Gymnasium on Thursday.
The Bloodhounds, now 2-10 (0-3 CUNYAC), grabbed a commanding lead from the opening tap. They scored the first five points of the contest to go up 5-0 less than four minutes into the contest.
After the host Beavers got on the board, the Bloodhounds ran off a 7-0 spurt to grab a 12-2 lead at the 14:23 mark on a jumper by Ganimete Ukperaj (Bellmore, NY / John F. Kennedy) who contributed with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
The Bloodhounds led by as much as 11 in the first half and had its biggest lead of the half most recent at the 4:18 point when Ukperaj made one of two free throws to give John Jay a 27-16 advantage.
John Jay still had control of the half and held a 31-23 lead at halftime.
The Bloodhounds opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take its biggest lead of the night, a 13 point cushion (38-25) on a three point field goal by Ukperaj at the 16:51 mark.
But CCNY cut into the lead and got its deficit to one (43-42) at the 8:48 mark.
But John Jay did not cave in. The Bloodhounds would lead by as much as five after that point. The Beavers got the deficit to one point on three occasions, most recently with 4:27 to go with the Bloodhounds up 49-48.
The Bloodhounds used a mini 4-0 run to go up 53-48 as Parker Griffin (New York, NY / Bishop Kearney), who scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds, drilled two free throws then recorded a lay-up at 2:48.
But CCNY used a final run which not only gave the Beavers their first lead of the night, but a lead they would not relinquish.
CCNY went on a 9-0 run starting with a lay-up at the 2:32 mark by Nadia Tijani, then grabbed a 57-53 lead on a Tijani lay-up with forty seconds to go.
Dominique Grice (North Babylon, NY / North Babylon), who led John Jay with a game-high 19 points, nailed one of two free throws to narrow the deficit to 57-54, but John Jay would not score again as the Bloodhounds went 0-for-3 in the closing seconds.
The Bloodhounds shot 43 percent (21-for-49) from the floor for the game including a 55 percent (12-for-22) in the first half.
John Jay returns to action on Sat. Jan. 5 for a home match against Lehman College, noon at the Doghouse.
