The Berkeley College New York women's basketball team won the NHTI-Holiday Inn New Year's Women's Basketball Tournament on Sunday afternoon, defeating the hosts - the Lynx - by a score of 56-50 in a tightly-contested championship game in Concord, New Hampshire. With the win, the Knights improved their mark to 11-2 on the season, while NHTI dipped to 8-7.

The biggest lead of the first half by either team was seven - and that was by the Lynx as NHTI held a 9-2 advantage just 4:22 into the game. The Knights twice held edges of as many as four points (18-14 and 25-21) before eventually finding themselves trailing by a point - 31-30 - as the teams headed into the locker room at halftime.

Berkeley took a 32-31 lead in the first minute of the second stanza thanks to a convered layup by Champagne Hazel, but Allura LeBlanc put NHTI back on top with a layup with 17:31 remaining in the game. Later - the Lynx appeared to be in good position in this one, holding a 46-41 edge with just under 8:30 to go, but the Knights would take over from there, as Berkeley would allow just one more field goal while finishing the game on a 15-4 run to take the championship.

Leading the way for Berkeley College in its victory was Hazel, as she converted on five of her six attempts from the charity stripe en route to finalizing her afternoon with a team-high 20 points. Additionally, she grabbed six rebounds and tallied six steals. Patricia Patterson added 15 points and a game-high 18 rebounds, and Janay Thomas had a fine all-around effort with 13 points, a game-high eight steals, and six assists.

Despite the loss for the Lynx, LeBlanc connected on 11 of her 20 attempts from the floor and posted a team-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Danielle Kimball contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists, as well.

Neither team shot well from the floor, with NHTI hitting on 36.4 percent of their shots (20-55), and the Knights connecting on just 27.1 percent of theirs (19-70). The Knights out-rebounded the Lynx 49-33, and committed 21 turnovers while forcing 29 NHTI miscues. The Lynx dished 17 assists to Berkeley's 12.

Following the end of the contest, the All-Tournament team awards were announced, and Patricia Patterson was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player. Standout Champagne Hazel was named to the All-Tournament team.

The Berkeley College women's basketball team will return to action next weekend, when the Knights will travel to Newport News, Virginia to play games on three consecutive days. On Friday, Berkeley will play St. Mary-of-the-Woods at 4:00pm. A day later on January 17, the Knights take on Briarcliffe (NY) at 2:00pm, and then finally on January 18, Berkeley will finalize their weekend with a game against the Apprentice School at 4:00pm.