New York, New York – The BMCC women's basketball team fought hard late in the second half but fell short 63-54 against Passaic County Community College on Saturday afternoon at BMCC Gymnasium. BMCC fell to 3-8 overall with the loss, while Passaic County Community College improved to 9-7 with the victory.
 
Two Panthers scored in double figures and posted double-doubles on the afternoon, with sophomore Emily Kennedy (Brooklyn, New York) carrying the torch with a game-high 22 points, 13 of them coming in the first half while bringing down 11 rebounds for her eighth straight double-double and team-leading ninth of the season. Kennedy also posted her team-best fifth 20-point scoring performance of the season and the 11th of her career.
 
Freshman Kamella Ross (Bronx, New York) started the New Year with a bang, putting together the best performance of her career, ripping down a career and game-high tied 12 rebounds, seven of them in the second half, while scoring 12 points, seven of them in the second half also a career-best. Kennedy and Ross also both distributed a team-best three assists on the afternoon.
 
Freshman Sheliyah Jackson (Bronx, New York) turned away a game-high three shots and was the third Panther to register double-digit rebounds with 11 boards on the afternoon, missing her third double-double of the year by three points with seven on the afternoon. Kennedy also snagged a team-best five steals in the contest.

The Panthers registered double-digit steals for the third straight game, with 12 on the afternoon and the 10th time in 11 contests this season while outrebounding Passaic County Community College 56-38. The 56 rebounds are the second most this season. BMCC also got 22 bench points, outscoring Passaic County Community College 22-4 overall.
 
Passaic County Community College got out of the gate quickly, scoring the first six points and holding BMCC scoreless for the first 6:04 of the first quarter. The Panthers would cut the deficit to four, 8-4, at 5:35 on a Ross jumper. PCCC would close the quarter on a 12-3 run to lead 20-7 after one.
 
The Panthers rebounded quickly in the second quarter, shooting 45.5 percent in the period, opening up with seven of the first 11 points with a Kennedy layup at 6:27, cutting the deficit to 10, 24-14. Passaic County Community College roared back with a 9-1 run to stretch their lead to its largest of the afternoon, 18, 33-15 at 1:11 on a Nandi Starr Cameron jumper. The Panthers would score the final five points with a Kennedy jumper with 22 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 13, 33-20, as both teams went into the locker room for halftime.
 
BMCC grabbed the first five points of the third quarter to get the deficit down to single digits for the first time since the 3:53 mark of the first quarter 8 33-25 on a layup by Mariah Wigfall (New York, New York) and shot 46.2 percent in the period. PCCC responded with a 7-2 run with an Imani Butcher jumper at the 5:35 mark to make it 40-27 before the Panther scored three straight points when Wigfall went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to cut the PCCC lead to 40-30. Kaira Long's layup with 31 seconds left capped off an 8-2 Passaic County Community College run to make it 48-32 before a Jackson midcourt three-pointer at the buzzer cut the deficit to 13, 48-35 after three. 
 
PCCC opened up the final quarter on a 7-2 run to stretch their lead back to its largest on day 18, 55-37, on a three-point play by Jada Cummings. The Panthers would make one more surge late in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to seven twice. BMCC put together a ferocious 14-3 run to make it 58-51 on a Ross offensive rebound and layup at 2:48, and then after PCCC got the lead back to 10, 61-51 at 1:37 on two free throws from Emonie Williams and Kennedy connected on a three-point play to cut it down to seven, 61-54, with 34 seconds left, but PCCC would take it from there, winning 63-54 when the final horn sounded.
 
Passaic County Community College had three players in double figures on the afternoon, and one posted a double-double. Nandi Starr Cameron and Emonie Williams led the way with a team-high 18 points apiece, while Jada Cummings secured a game-best tied 12 rebounds and scored 12 points. Amariah Redden dished out a game-high five assists, while Williams also missed a double-double by a point with nine on the afternoon and teamed up with Amariah Redden to gobble up a game-best six steals. Cummings and Redden both recorded a team-best two blocks in the contest.
 
The Panthers will look to regroup next Saturday, January 13, in CUNYAC play when they travel to Brooklyn to take on Kingsborough Community College at Kingsborough Gymnasium at noon. For more information, visit the BMCC Women's Basketball Schedule Page.
 
Notables –
- Emily Kennedy (Brooklyn, New York) has put up double-digit scoring efforts in all 10 games and 22 straight times dating back to the 2022-23 season and 23 double-figure games in her last 24 contests. Kennedy has also posted double-doubles in nine of her 10 games this season, including 11 in her previous 12 games dating back to last year.
- Kennedy ranks in the top ten nationally in three statistical categories, ranking fourth in the country in steals per game (5.1), fifth in assists per game (5.4), and tied ninth in scoring average (19.8). 
- Kennedy is the Panthers top player leading the squad in 12 different categories in points (198), scoring average (19.8), field goals made (68), field goals attempted (160), free throws made (56), free throws attempted (96), rebounds (91), rebounding average (9.1), assists (54), assists per game (5.4), steals (51), and steals per game (5.1). 
- Kennedy moved into fifth all-time in career steals with 101, surpassing Denea Fleary's 98 career steals from 2011-2013. 
- Kennedy also moved into a tie for eighth all-time in career assists with 91 with Chanel Wray and 10th in all-time program history with 471 career points, passing Karina Ortega's total of 449 career points from 2016-2018. 
- Kennedy also has 216 career rebounds, which is now 13th all-time in school history, passing Atoinette Daniel's total of 211 career rebounds from 2000-01.
- Sheliyah Jackson (Bronx, New York) leads the Panthers with eight blocks and a field goal percentage of 50.8 percent while ranking second in six other categories in points (79), scoring average (8.8), (31) field goals made, free throws made (16), rebounds (71), and rebounding average (7.9). She is also second with three double-digit rebound games and two double-doubles on the year. 
 

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