Utica, NY - The CUNYAC Champion Hostos Caimans bounced back from the NJCAA quarterfinal loss to beat #2 Northland of Minnesota 67-62 for their first ever Nationals appearance victory and earning the program their 30th win of the season. The Caimans (30-4) will now play for 5th place at the Nationals on Saturday afternoon.
"That was a great win for our program" said DeVernie Winston, 2nd year head coach of the Caimans. "I am proud of the way my team bounced back from yesterday's tough loss, they showed a lot of heart and pride in their play today and I couldn't ask for more from them."
Freshman sensation Cashmir Fulcher (Wildcat Academy / New York, NY) was the offensive catalyst on the day, dropping 27 points, while her backcourt teammate and sophomore guard Destini Green (DeWitt Clinton HS / Bronx, NY) made several key plays in the final two minutes when the Caimans found themselves down for the first time 57-55. First Green grabbed an offensive board and put it back to tie the game at 57, then she drove the lane and dished to Pamela Suarez (14 points) for 59-57 lead with 3:50 left. Finally she created an iso in the low post, with a turnaround kiss off the glass for a 6-0 Green-led Hostos run to give the Region XV Champs a 61-57 lead.
In the final 2 minutes though and clinging to tight leads, it was Fulcher who made two key plays with a baseline jumper and two free throws that pushed the lead to 65-62. After two defensive stops, Corina Coles (5 points) sealed the victory with two more free throws for the final 67-62 score.
"It was a tough loss yesterday but we found a way to bounce back and get the win today," said Green, who finished with 18 points. "We played intense defense, much better than yesterday, and that was the key to the win."
Fulcher was on fire in the first 30 minutes, making up for lack of playing time the day before due to foul trouble. She led Hostos with 16 points, en route to a 34-24 halftime lead. Her 3-pointer, two floaters in the lane and dish to Nyasha Howard for a lay up kept Hostos in front at 48-37 with 2:38 left in the 3rd.
Northland (24-5) rallied from 10 point deficit early in the 4th quarter with a 12-0 run on the strength of the unstoppable 6' wide-body Sharon Miller (10-11 FG and 23 pts) and an improbable 57-55 lead. That is when Green took over and would not allow Hostos to be denied their win, a first for a CUNY women's basketball program since the mid-1990s when BMCC posted a three-year run of finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the NJCAA.
A day earlier #6 seeded Hostos struggled mightily against the defending National Champions in #3 Roxbury (Mass), who snapped Hostos' record 25-game winning streak going away 76-50. Early foul trouble for Fulcher and Suarez allowed Roxbury to control the offensive glass for multiple second chance points which proved to be too much. Trailing 24-18 late in the first half, Roxbury closed out on a 9-2 run and never looked back.
"We cannot take losses to heart, took that experience in and had to take it to today's game and be mentally prepared'" said an already seasoned rookie Fulcher. "We picked up our intensity, especially on defensive end and boxing out against their bigs. We were patient on offense and I kept my composure and my season high came at the right time."
Hostos are grateful that she did. The Caimans await the winner of Brookdale (NJ) and West Georgia Tech (GA) for the 5th place game tomorrow at 2:00 pm.