Brooklyn, NY

Trailing 39-37 at the break, Hostos grabbed a 43-41 advantage on a put-back by Petagay Douse (East Stroudsburg/ Queens, NY). The two teams traded baskets until Manhattan opened up a 64-59 lead with 4:57 remaining on a jumper by Veronica Sherman (Sheepshead Bay/Brooklyn, NY) from the left wing. Hostos answered with four straight points to close within 64-63 on a steal and lay-up by Morganna Green (Brooklyn Outreach/Brooklyn, NY) at the 3:40 mark and then reclaimed the lead after a Shanna Hamilton (Beach Channel/Queens, NY) put-back with 3:02 left. Hamilton then converted two free-throws with 2:27 left to give the Lady Caiman's a 67-64 lead. The free-throws came after the fifth foul was called on Manhattan center Monica Johnson (Jefferson/Brooklyn, NY). After a field goal attempt and a turnover by the Lady Panthers, Douse calmly hit two freethrows to extend the Hostos lead to 69-64 with 1:13 to go. Manhattan's Khadijah Khan (Campus Magnet/Queens, NY) cut the lead to 69-66 on a put-back with forty-seven seconds remaining, but Hamilton answered with an offensive rebound and lay-up of her own with twenty-five seconds remaining to push the lead back to five at 71-66. LaToya Steele (Sheepshead Bay/Brooklyn, NY) converted a jumper with five seconds left to bring the Panthers within three points at 71-68, however, Hamilton put the game out of reach with a pair of free-throws with just two seconds remaining.

In the opening half, Hamilton scored five of her ten points to give Hostos an early 11-4 advantage at the 16:05 mark. However, Manhattan answered with a 9-1 run grab their first lead of the game, 12-11, at the 13:55 mark. The Panthers took their biggest lead of the half at 37-33 with 2:17 remaining and settled for a 39-37 halftime advantage. Monica Johnson (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Sherman (3-for-6 three point goals) combined for 21 points for Manhattan. Neither team led by more than four points in the stanza as there were a total of six ties and eleven lead changes.

"We took advantage of all of the opportunities we had to make in order to make this work,” said Hostos head coach Renee Bostic. "We worked harder at the end of the game to make this happen and win a championship for Hostos in our first season.”

Tournament Most Valuable Player Nicola Moore scored 18 points and added a game-high nine assists for Hostos. Hamilton, the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, also scored 18 points, despite playing just 24 minutes because of foul trouble. Green added 10 points and Douse added eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Johnson (game-high 16 rebounds) and Sherman each scored 16 points for Manhattan. Natasha Whitney (Health Professions/ Brooklyn, NY) added 13 points and Steele has 12 points.

Most Valuable Player
Nicola Moore (Hostos)

All-Tournament Team
Monica Johnson (Manhattan), Shanna Hamilton (Hostos), LaToya Steele (Manhattan), Tamisha Glenn (Hostos), Natasha Whitney (Manhattan)

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