Photo by Curtis Ashley
BY Jeff WeisingerSenior Sports Editor "You don't beat a team three times."That mantra is sticking with the CCNY Women's Basketball team after their 69-58 loss to Lehman on Sunday's senior day. After getting swept by Lehman this season, the Lady Beavers are looking toward their upcoming potential playoff matchup against them in the upcoming CUNYAC tournament. CCNY currently holds, and is expected to finish with, the fourth playoff seed."I think our girls got a wakeup call today," Head Coach Jamie Angeli said afterwards.CCNY entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the CUNYAC, winning eight of their last nine, however the Lady Beavers looked nothing like the team that won three in a row entering Sunday."It all starts with warm ups, and warm ups wasn't the best" CCNY guard Erika Richards said. "We came out strong, we just kind of came out timid. If we came out how we did the third quarter, it would've been a different game."CCNY held their Senior Day ceremony as Taylor Pompilio, Nikki Parry, Tiara Brown, Robin Daley and Myrriah McIntosh were all honored prior to the game for their time with the program."I'll be honest, I've been coaching a long time and I've never been a fan of senior day, there's too many emotions," Angeli mentioned. "The focus isn't on the game at that point.""I feel like coach said, senior day makes everything seem kind of weird," Pompilio added. "You have this ceremony thing and you get kind of cold. I feel like we came out flat because we were concerned with other things."Lehman took control from the opening tipoff, opening on a 7-0 run sparked by an opening three-pointer by probable CUNYAC Player of the Year Amely Del Rosario. City fought back right away, clawing back with a 6-0 run of their own, however the Lady Beavers just couldn't seem to fight all the way back."The same way they came in and saw that we were so close with them the first game, they came into the second game and started playing the same way they always play," Brown mentioned.They trailed the Lightning 39-22 at the half -- the 17-point hole was their largest halftime deficit against anyone all season -- however came out hot in the third quarter and pulled within three before Lehman started to pull away, ending the third on a 9-3 run."I'm proud that they fought back and got back in the game, but Lehman's a really good team," Angeli mentioned. "I told them, 'we got stops, we got buckets in the second half, we just didn't get the opportune stops when we needed it.'"The loss ends CCNY's three-game winning streak as they'll look to end the season on a solid note at Medgar Evers Tuesday night."We've got an opportunity to do something on our home floor which we haven't done in a long time," Angeli said. "We'll be focused to play well and get the win on Tuesday."CCNY will host a second-round playoff game next Sunday, however all eyes will be on the potential semifinal matchup against the top-seed Lightning on Wednesday, Feb. 24. City hasn't hosted a playoff game that they played in the last 15 years.The fourth-seed finish by City is the best for the Women's basketball program since the 2001-02 season where they lost to Hunter 65-51 in the semis as the fourth seed.