With veteran leadership, great depth, family-like chemistry and one of the best athletes to ever wear the blue and white, the Lehman College women’s basketball team is poised to defend their CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Championship this season.

“Once you’ve had a taste of it, you can’t visualize anything else,” said Lady Lightning Head Coach Eric Harrison, now in his 10th year at the Bedford Park area school. “We’re not giving up the title.”

The Lightning climaxed last season with a 52-51 upset victory over rival Baruch College to win the school’s first CUNYAC Championship before losing in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament. This season, Lehman (11-8 overall, 7-1 in conference) returns six players, including four starters.

“This year’s team has more talent and more depth than last year’s team,” said Ivelisse Rosario, a Lehman assistant coach and a former standout point guard at the school. “Once this team builds more confidence and starts to click a little more, they should be on the right track [to defend their Conference title].”

“We’re like a family,” freshman point guard Vanessa Navarro said. “We play as a team, and we win as a team. We want to win another title.”

The primary reason for Lehman’s success in recent seasons is junior power forward Sally Nnamani.

Although Lehman recruits players, the Warwick, New York native sought out Lehman because her aunt lives nearby.

As a freshman, Nnamani won CUNYAC Rookie of the Year and captured the Conference Player of the Year award as a sophomore. She began this season as the Preseason Conference Player of the Year and currently leads the league with averages of 20.5 points and 3.2 blocked shots per game.

“I try not to think about the awards too much,” Nnamani said. “Any award I receive is just a boost to my confidence.”

In a Jan. 8 loss to Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., Nnamani became Lehman’s all-time points leader when she scored her 1,276th career point to eclipse Desirae Ross’ (’02) record. With a season and a half left to play at Lehman, Nnamani needs less than a thousand points to become the CUNYAC’s all-time scoring leader. (Former City College of New York player Lauren Cargill currently holds the conference record with 2,272 career points.)

Nnamani also holds the record for most blocked shots in Lehman history and is only 34 three pointers away from breaking Rosario’s career three point field goals record of 183. Lehman senior guard Tiara Carroll is close to breaking Rosario’s all-time career assists record.

“It’s great to see my records being broken,” Rosario said. “It means that the program is getting better and that it’s headed in the right direction.”

Harrison, a three time CUNYAC Coach of the Year and the winningest coach in Lehman College history, called Nnamani one of the best players he’s ever coached. He’s not the only one impressed.

“She’s a one-man wrecking crew,” Lehman College Athletic Director Martin Zwiren said.

“When I came to Lehman this season [as a junior transfer], I heard about how good this team was,” junior forward Whittney Barnes said. “When I saw Sally play, I could see why.”  

“She’s one of the humblest players I’ve ever seen,” Rosario said. “She doesn’t care if she scores zero points as long as her team wins the game.”

The team’s only conference loss came on Dec. 6 against conference leaders Baruch College on Baruch’s home court. The teams will meet again in the final game of the season, Senior Day, on Feb. 9 at Lehman’s consistently-packed APEX arena.