The third ranked Baruch College Bearcats fell short of a comeback against the second ranked John Jay Bloodhounds, losing 66–56 at The Doghouse in the CUNY Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament semifinal.

Trailing by as much as 20 points against the John Jay Bloodhounds, the Bearcats rallied, cutting the deficit to four points late in the fourth, before the home team secured the win at the free throw line.

Baruch struggled with shooting throughout the night. The Bearcats trailed by nine by the end of the first quarter after going 2-15 from the field. Their only points were from a 3-pointer by 2022 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Mia Castillo and a Milly Ye jumper.

John Jay increased its lead to 16 points in the second quarter until Baruch recuperated late, scoring seven straight points to enter halftime down 23-32.

The second half was a repeat of the first as the Bulldogs dominated, outscoring Baruch 15-9 in the third quarter. Their dominant play continued in the fourth, growing their lead to the biggest of the night, 55-31.

The Bearcats responded with greater effort in the second half after scoring seven 3-pointers from five different players. Valsenia Michie and Paige Traynor had two threes during the 20-2 rally, as well as one from Traynor that reduced the lead to four with a little over two minutes remaining.

John Jay struggled in this stretch, missing shots and committing turnovers that led to points.

A turnover by John Jay’s Bobbi Green gave the Bearcats possession and the chance to cut the lead down to a bucket. However, a missed 3-pointer by Elissa Leung with 1:23 left in the game seemingly ended the rally.

Baruch would go 1-4 in field goal attempts to close the game, allowing the Bloodhounds to pad their lead and secure their spot in the finals.

Castillo was the Bearcats highest scorer of the game with 15 points; Spahiu had the most rebounds with 14.

The Bearcats end their season 10-11, 7-5 CUNYAC.

In the championship game, John Jay lost to the reigning champion, the Brooklyn College Bulldogs, 59-51 in the championship game.

As champion, Brooklyn earned an automatic berth to the NCAA DIII Tournament, playing against the Great Northeast Athletic Conference champions Emmanuel College Saints (25-1, 16-0 GMAC) on March 3 in the round of 64.