The Bearcats, the CUNYAC North Division Champions, scored the first five points of the game and never looked back. After building the lead to as many as 15 points at the midway mark of the first half, the Cardinals made a 10-0 run to cut a 23-8 lead to 23-18, but the Bearcats quickly put on the jets and outscored their opponent 19-2 for the remaining six minutes to go into the break, 42-20.
"We had the same game plan today as we had all season," said CUNYAC Coach of the Year Machli Joseph. "Our defensive pressure created easy baskets and eventually wore York down."
Every Baruch player got in the scoring column, led by junior forward Ally Stamatiades (Astoria, N.Y./W.C. Bryant) with 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Sophomore guard Naesha Tyler-Moore (Chicago, IL/Rich Central) scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench.
All-star senior forward Jessenia Marrero (Flushing, N.Y./Francis Lewis) added 10 points and CUNYAC Player of the Year Chiresse Paradise (Chicago, IL/Rich Central) chipped in with nine points and eight boards for the winners.
"It’s an important game for us as a team," Joseph added. "We were able to get everyone minutes today and that helps them prepare for the semifinals, where we know we’ll get a tough battle from either Hunter or Lehman."
York was led for the last time by senior guard Jenny Deida (New York, NY/Brandeis) with 17 points and six rebounds.
CUNYAC contributed to this story.