Box Score

Brooklyn, NY --- The fourth-seeded Brooklyn College Women's Basketball Team (19-7, 9-4 CUNYAC) earned a hard-fought 77-75 victory over fifth seeded York College (8-17, 5-8 CUNYAC) in the quarterfinal round of the 2009 CUNYAC / Con Edison Women's Basketball Tournament.  

The Cardinals got off to a fast start, taking an 11-6 lead on a Kadisha Wickham (H.J. Robinson / Brooklyn, NY) lay-up five minutes into the contest.  York stretched the lead to seven points, 19-12 on a jumper by Justina Boatwright (August Martin / Brooklyn, NY).  The Bridges then exploded on a 9-0 run, capped by consecutive lay-ups from Megan Davidson (St. Edmund Prep / Brooklyn, NY) that knotted the score at 21-21 with 7:30 to play in the period. Brooklyn could not pull in front, as York closed the half on a 16-8 spurt to take a 37-29 lead into the locker room.

York maintained their lead early in the second half, but the Bridges slowly began to chip away.  A pair of foul shots from Amalea Sideris (St. Demetrios / Astoria, NY) brought BC to within two points, 44-42 five minutes into the second stanza.  On the ensuing possession, Priscilla Ramirez (Franklin D, Roosevelt / Brooklyn, NY) picked off an errant pass and dribbled the length of the court before netting the game-tying lay-up.

BC then took the lead as Davidson cleaned up the offensive glass and tapped the shot in.  A lay-up by Justine O'Callahan (Floral Park / Floral Park, NY) extended the Brooklyn lead to 61-53 midway through the second half.  The Bridges would lead by as many as 10 points in the half, but Wickham went on a personal 8-0 run to bring the Cardinals back to within two points, 65-63 with six minutes left to play.  A triple by Christina Belfiore (Staten Island Tech / Staten Island, NY) set the margin at five with five minutes remaining.

The Cardinals soared back, as Boatwright hit a jumper and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions to put York ahead by the count of 72-70 with 2:41 to play.  An Amber Gordon (Bishop Loughlin / Brooklyn, NY) lay-up knotted the game moments later, and after a steal Gordon calmly sank a pair of free throws to reclaim the lead for BC.

Free throws by Wickham made it a one-point game, 76-75 with 35 seconds to go.  BC turned it over, but knocked the ball out of bounds before York could get a shot off.  Ramirez then stole the ball as the clock wound down to seal the triumph.

Davidson scored 18 points and grabbed eight boards to lead the Bridges.  Ramirez and Gordon each netted 15 points.  Ramirez also added a season-high eight assists and a career-best 10 steals. Wickham's double-double performance (24 points and 10 rebounds) paced the Cardinals.

With the win, Brooklyn heads into the semifinal round where they will face the #1 seed Baruch College.  The game will be played on Tuesday, February 24th at 5:30 pm, at City College of New York, on 138th Street and Convent Avenue in uptown Manhattan.  For free tickets, call the Brooklyn College Athletics office at 718-951-5366 or email alang@brooklyn.cuny.edu.