CUNY / Con Edison Community College Women's Final

Five-Peat Complete As BMCC Overwhelms Queensborough 53-22

Friday, February 15 - BMCC head women's basketball coach Rodney Carr made his CUNYAC Community College Basketball Tournament Championship five times as sweet tonight, as his Panthers raced out to another early insurmountable lead, en route to a convincing win over Queensborough CC, 53-22. The Panthers have now won the championship in all five years of the tournament, which began in 1997-98.

It proved to be an all-around effort for the Panthers, who used a stifling defense to force the Tigers into 3-of-16 shooting in the first half, forcing 25 turnovers, to take a 28-9 lead going into intermission. Ten different BMCC scorers connected on baskets in the first half, led by Fanta Sissoko's 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting. BMCC never trailed, and by that time, Carr's fifth championship seemed to be in the bag.

"We worked hard," said Carr, "Offensively, we missed a lot of shots, but it's always about defense in this game."

BMCC did fare better offensively in the second half, ballooning its lead to over 20 points as Tournament MVP Crystal Jones led the way with 6 points, 7 rebounds, and a game-high 8 steals.

"We wouldn't have been able to replace her with a 40-point scorer," said Carr of his sophomore forward from Queens. "She was everywhere. She recovered defensively, rebounded; she makes everyone around her play better."

The Panthers were also paced by the great play of freshman Chidinma Ogueri, who notched a team high 11 points, and 9 rebounds.

BMCC's fifth conference championship in as many seasons ties a CUNY tournament record on any level, tying Queensborough's men's basketball tournament run from 1994-98. "It gets harder every year," said Carr, whose team battled through the season despite a 2-5 start. "I'm proud," he said, "We're constantly developing as a team, and we picked it up at the right time, during the playoffs."

by David Pizzuto

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