NEW YORK, N.Y. (Feb. 16, 2018) - Leading 28-22 at the half, top-ranked and No. 1 seed Hostos Community College opened the third quarter on an 18-3 run to pull away from second-seeded Borough of Manhattan Community College in a 73-52 win Friday evening at the 2018 CUNYAC/Army ROTC Women's Basketball Championship at BMCC Gymnasium in Manhattan.

Freshman forward and 2018 CUNYAC Tournament Most Valuable Player Kayla Wilson bookended the outburst with lay-ups. Freshman guard Desiree Tolbert converted a three-point play and added a put-back lay-up. Fellow freshman guard Regine Blakney knocked down a three-pointer.

"I am so proud of them because of the adversity they faced during the season," commented Head Coach DeVernie Winston. "They stuck with it. We set out to win a CUNYAC Championship and we did that. We will now turn our attention to the regional tournament."

Wilson registered a game-high-tying 14 points in the second half for the Caimans, en route to being named the MVP. She finished with a double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds) for the game, along with swiping five steals.

"It means a lot to me (to be a champion)," stated Wilson. "Before I came here, I had a bad injury. I tore my ACL. And for me to win this, it means a lot. This is just the beginning though."

In the last 20 minutes, Hostos shot a sizzling 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) from the field and outscored BMCC in the paint, 30-14. The Caimans also forced 16 Panther turnovers and grabbed nine steals off those miscues.

"We had to stay disciplined and buy into the system. We did that and finished the game," said Wilson about the adjustments made by the Caimans in the second half.

The game-changing run gave Hostos a commanding 46-25 lead with 6:02 left in the second half. The Caimans eventually widened the gap to as many as 26 points (73-47) at the 2:27 mark of the fourth quarter.

The first half was tightly contested, as neither team held a lead larger than eight points.

However, the Caimans rolled off an 11-4 run late in the second quarter to grab a 28-20 advantage with 1:46 left. Blakney and freshman forward Skydajah Patterson sparked the spurt with back-to-back lay-ups. Sophomore guard Ashley Smith capped it off with a jumper.

Blakney scored 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting in the contest and chipped in four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Tolbert had 12 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists. Patterson posted 10 points, six rebounds and five steals. Sophomore guard Nyasha Howard tallied seven points, seven rebounds, eight assists, four steals and three blocks.

For BMCC, freshman guard/forward Jessycca Myers (Jackson, TN) poured in a game-high-tying 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She also crashed the glass for eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Karina Ortega (New York, NY) amassed 16 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Sophomore guard Nikola Zilakova (Prague, Czech Republic) added 10 points and three assists.

2018 CUNYAC/Army ROTC Community College Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Kayla Wilson, Hostos
Nicole Chavez, Queensborough
Lavaya Clarke, Kingsborough
Karina Ortega, BMCC
Jessycca Myers, BMCC
Regine Blakney, Hostos
Desiree Tolbert, Hostos