New York, NY | The fourth-seeded Lady Panthers squared off against the #1 LaGuardia Red Hawks in the opening round of the CUNY Women's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night. Head coach Ben Newberg and the Lady Panthers had the tough task of going against a LaGuardia team that finished the season with a perfect 10-0 conference record.

The game started off perfect for BMCC, with Ashley Duplan hitting her first three 3-pointers to help the Lady Panthers jump out to a 17-9 lead. Though LaGuardia would rally to tie the game at 17 apiece, a strong first half from Kiara Atkins would keep the momentum with the Panthers. The pair of sophomores ended the first half with 11 each as BMCC entered the locker room trailing by just 3 points.

BMCC continued to out-rebound the Red Hawks in the third quarter while Ashley Brooks caught on fire from midrange to keep it at a 3 point game as they entered the fourth quarter. An 8-0 run by the Red Hawks to start the 4^th quarter pushed the deficit to 11 points. LaGuardia would extend the lead to 13 before a layup-and-1 from Takisha Weekes on an excellent pass from Omicamy Ramos brought the Panthers back within 10. In the end BMCC could not surmount a comeback as they fell to LaGuardia by a final score of 69-58.

With the conference schedule coming to an end for the Lady Panthers, BMCC will turn their focus towards the regional tournament that begins next week.