Valhalla, NY – The Vikings ended 2023 with a three-game win streak defeating the Panthers of BMCC 74-58 at home Tuesday evening despite ending with four players.
 
You would think your team would be in trouble playing with four (technically five) from the six-minute mark in the second quarter. Natasha White would get her fourth personal foul right then and there causing her to literally stand in the front court as her Viking teammates would play a four-player zone defense against the Panthers. However, this story does have a happy ending.
 
The first quarter saw both teams run back and forth trading points. Westchester would hold the early lead until the 5:13 mark when Manhattan tied the game at nine. From there, the Panthers would hold the edge over the Vikings ending the quarter with a one-point lead. Milagros Alston would lead the Vikings with six points followed by White who added five.
 
The second quarter is where the game would get a bit interesting. Westchester would open the quarter with a 7-0 run giving them the lead once again. Here came the six-minute mark. After a White turnover, she would add her fourth personal foul of the game. The Vikings, down in numbers at the moment, only had five players. Head Coach Karim McFarlane would be given a tough decision on how to go about playing the rest of the contest. Well, he used an old playground tactic, have White stand near the SUNY WCC bench while the rest of the team would play defense so that she would avoid getting her fifth foul. It worked. The other four Vikings stepped up on defense and held the Panthers to nine points in the quarter while Westchester would score 20 points and hold a 34-24 lead heading into halftime.
 
The third quarter would see more of the same strategy from the Vikings. Both teams came out firing on offense with White adding 11 points of her own in the "cherry picking" style offense. The Panthers were able to pick apart the Westchester defense more scoring 20 points however, the Vikings answered right back scoring 20 point of their own to hold the lead by 10 still 54-44.
 
The final quarter opened with a 6-0 Viking run cushioning their lead to 60-44 before the first BMCC bucket. White's time in the game would end though, receiving her fifth personal foul at the four-minute mark. Now truly with four players in the game, it was up to the Viking defense to continue to hold the lead. The ladies were up to the task holding the Panthers to eight points after White fouling out. Both Alston and Baronique Russell would add six points each helping solidify the win.
 
Westchester was led by White who had a career-high 30 points in the win. Alston added 20 points and nine steals, followed by Russell's 16 points and 17 rebounds. Chynna Mincey would contribute a game-high 17 rebounds in the win.
 
The Vikings look forward to the Holiday break and are eager to see what 2024 brings!