NYACK, N.Y. - Sophomore guard Kirsty Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Acad.) poured in a career-high 29 points to lead the Caldwell College women's basketball team to a 75-67 triumph over Nyack College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Saturday afternoon at Nyack's Bowman Gym. The victory keeps the Cougars (6-9 overall) in second place in the CACC North Division with a 4-1 record in conference play. The Warriors drop their fifth game in a row to fall to 7-8 overall, 1-5 CACC.

Caldwell led by as many as 10 points in the first half after a three by Leedham and four points from senior forward Mackenzie Lynch (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) completed a 7-0 run that put the Cougars on top, 23-13 with 8:40 left in the half. Nyack answered by scoring the next 10 points to tie the game at 23-23. The game remained close for the rest of the half, with Caldwell able to take a 35-34 advantage into the break. Nyack's Victoria Sweet tallied 17 points in the first half.

Neither team led by more than four points in the second half until back-to-back three-pointers by Leedham sparked nine consecutive points that gave the Cougars a 56-49 lead with 7:16 to play. Baskets by Lynch, Leedham and senior forward Janay Perkins (Bronx, NY/Walton) expanded the lead to 11, 64-53 with five minutes on the clock. But Nyack battled back with a 9-2 run capped by a pair of jumpers from Shelly Yount that cut the deficit to four, 66-62 with two minutes remaining. But that's as close as the Warriors would get, as the Cougars went 5-of-6 from the line and got four points from freshman guard Kaitlyn Lambert (Cumberland, RI/Cumberland) down the stretch to seal their second straight conference win.

Although Nyack shot a sizzling 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from the floor in the second half, the Warriors turned the ball over 11 times after halftime, resulting in 18 points for Caldwell. The visiting Cougars also made 20 free throws to 14 for Nyack and held a 41-32 rebounding advantage while turning the ball over a season-low 10 times.

Leedham went 6-of-14 from beyond the arc en route to a career-high 29 points, which eclipsed her previous best of 26 points, set at Barry University on Nov. 25 earlier this season. She also added four assists and a steal. Lynch was a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe and finished with 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Perkins tallied 14 points and seven boards, while sophomore guard Abena George (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial) dished out five assists. Sweet ended up with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds for Nyack, which received 20 points, 10 assists and seven boards from Jasmine Minter.

Caldwell faces another CACC North foe on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 27, when the Cougars play at Post University. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. in Waterbury, Conn.