BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – Junior Tianna Smith (Spring Valley, N.Y.) poured in a game-high 20 points to lead the Bloomfield College women's basketball team to Wednesday evening's 61-51 victory against the Clippers of Concordia College at the Meyer Athletic Center in New York.
 
The Bears win for the fifth time in six games to climb to 5-2 on the season, including 2-0 in CACC play, while the Clippers drop to 1-4, 0-3 CACC.

Smith hit 5 of 17 shots from the floor and was a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line, while dishing three assists, swiping three steals and pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Iman Williams (Shreveport, L.A.) scored 12 points (3-9 FG, 6-8 FT) and pulled down seven rebounds, while freshman Deja McKenzie (Baltimore, M.D.) netted 6 points to go along with two boards and a steal.
 
Hadiyah Black paced Concordia with her second double-double of the season netting 12 points, eleven rebounds and two assists. Khadijah Donaldson and Jessica Rosalbo chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively for the Clippers.
 
Bloomfield led, 15-11 after one quarter of play when Smith sank a jumper just before the buzzer sounded. The Bears forced 9 turnovers in the frame and converted them into 6 points. Williams and McKenzie each scored four points to lead the visitors' offense in the first quarter.
 
In the second period, Smith buried a 3-pointer and then turned a steal in the backcourt into a layup and the Bears saw their lead balloon to eleven (26-15) with 2:59 on the clock. The Bloomfield defense held the home team to just 8 points in the quarter and headed into the halftime break up 26-19.
 
Smith led all scorers at the half with 10 points including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and four rebounds. Junior Gabriella Bennett (Willingboro, N.J.) provided a spark off the bench for the Bears with four boards.
 
A Bloomfield layup opened the scoring out of the break but the Clippers sailed on a 9-1 run after that to draw to within three (31-28) with 5:12 on the clock. The Bears responded with 6 straight points capped by an Ariel Wilson (Chesapeake, Va.) jumper and flexed to a 37-28 advantage. By the end of the third quarter Concordia had trimmed their deficit to 41-35 heading into the final frame.
 
Wilson opened the fourth quarter with a jumper from downtown and the visiting squad seized control but the Clippers still had wind in their sails and blew off a 7-0 run to pull within two (44-42). Bloomfield calmly weathered the storm and rebuilt a ten-point advantage, 56-46 with just under a minute remaining in the game. Free throws down the stretch sealed the CACC North Division victory for the Bears as Smith nailed four from the charity stripe in the last minute. Wilson finished the game with 9 points and 3 boards.
 
 
Concordia outshot Bloomfield, 33.9 percent (19-56) to 29.8 percent (17-57), but the Bears shot a season best from the free throw line and held an 82.8 percent (24-29) to 50.0 percent (12-24) advantage. Concordia narrowly won the glass, 45-43, but turned the ball over 26 times under Bloomfield's pressure leading to a 23-9 margin in points off turnovers.
 
Next up for the Bears they travel back to the Empire State Thursday evening for a battle with Dowling College. The non-conference match up is set for a 5:00 pm tipoff from the Dowling Gymnasium.

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