New York, New York – After leading after one quarter for the third time, this season, Raritan Valley Community College went off in the second quarter shooting 62.5 percent from the field (10-16) and 83.3 percent from three-point range (5-6) en route to a 73-41 non-conference victory over the BMCC women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at BMCC Gymnasium. The Lions improve to 8-12 overall with the victory, while the Panthers fall to 2-12.

Demaris Andrews (Bayonne, New Jersey) led all scorers for the Panthers on the afternoon, dropping a team-high 20 points, her sixth 20-point output of the season to go along with seven rebounds and a block. Classmate Emily Kennedy (Brooklyn, New York) missed her third straight 20-point output by one point with 19 points on the afternoon while hauling down a team-best eight rebounds and dishing out a team-high five assists. Kennedy also led the Panthers defensively with a game-high six steals. Freshmen Kayla Rodriguez (Brooklyn, New York) and Yisneily Morales (Bronx, New York) chipped in on both sides of the court as well as Rodriguez corralled six rebounds and handed out two assists, while Morales recorded three rebounds and two steals.

The Panthers jumped out to their best start of the season in the first quarter and limited Raritan Valley C.C. to just two field goals made while shooting 40 percent from the field (4-10) and going a perfect two-for-two from three-point range. After Raritan Valley C.C. got the game's opening bucket, BMCC mounted an 11-4 run - six points from Andrews and five by Kennedy - to extend the lead to five, 11-6 at 2:40 when Kennedy converted a layup. The final points of the period came on free throws, with the Lions going 1-for-2 at 1:37 and Andrews nailing two free throw attempts at 1:18 to give the Panthers the 13-7 after one.

After a frustrating shooting effort in the first quarter, Raritan Valley C.C. came out firing in the second quarter, exploding for 27 points and holding BMCC to just nine including 3-for-12 shooting from the field (25% FG). The Lions would roar out of the gate with an 8-2 run retaking the lead at the 7:10 mark on a Kerine Thomas three-pointer to make it 16-15 before a Kennedy layup gave the Panthers the lead back 17-16 at 6:16.

Raritan Valley C.C. would roll off four straight points with a Thomas layup putting them back in front 18-17 at 5:58, then extending the advantage to three, 20-17, on Bianca Diaz's layin at the 5:12 mark.

Alicia Tomby (Berbice, Guyana) knocked down a jumper at 4:30 to cut the Lion lead to one, 20-19, before the Raritan Valley took control of the game with a furious 14-0 run, increasing their lead to its largest of the first half 15, 34-19 with 48 seconds remaining on a Le'Ana Brown layup. Kennedy's three-point play before halftime with 32 seconds remaining helped cut the Lion's lead down to 34-22.

The Lions controlled the second-half narrative holding the Panthers to just eight third-quarter points and extending their lead to 23, 53-30 after three quarters and building it to as large as 32, 70-38 at the 2:46 mark of the fourth quarter en route to a 73-41 victory.

All seven Raritan Valley Community College players made their way on the scoresheet, led by freshman Kerine Thomas's game-high 22 points, while Roco Martin Muoz scored 19 points. Sophomore Tiana Presley registered a double-double with a game-high 17 rebounds and contributed 12 points, while classmate Le'Ana Brown distributed a game-best six assists and had five points. Presley and freshman Emily Norgard snagged a team-high three steals apiece, while Norgard scored nine points. Freshmen Alexia Mia Martí and Bianca Diaz chipped in with four and two points.
 
The Panthers will look to grab their third CUNYAC victory win this season as they tip off in the first game of a two-game homestand against conference foe LaGuardia Community College on Tuesday, January 24 at 5 p.m. at BMCC Gymnasium. For more information, visit the BMCC women's basketball schedule page.

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