As her last season winds down, Del Rosario lights up Lightning

There are few opponents who have gotten the best of Amely Del Rosario during her stellar career at Lehman College. With a list of accomplishments that include a City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Player of the Year award, countless conference Player of the Week honors, and oh, let’s not forget the CUNYAC basketball championship last season, Del Rosario has led a charmed life at Lehman.

But the one opponent that will eventually best Del Rosario is time, and its relentless march toward the end of her career with the Lightning. After last Saturday’s 87-66 victory over John Jay at the Apex, leaving Lehman all alone in second place and just a half game behind conference-leading College of Staten Island in the CUNYAC standings, there are just four games remaining in Del Rosario’s final regular season.

It’s a prospect the senior guard thinks about quite a bit these days.   

“The other day I was speaking to an advisor about classes [for next semester] and she said, ‘You know it’s your senior year, right?’ And I was like, ‘Wait, I’ve been here four years?’” Del Rosario said laughing. “It just happened so fast. Especially during the season it goes by so fast.”

This week, before she dropped a team-high 19 points on John Jay as the Lightning upped their record to 12-8 overall and 10-2 in CUNYAC play, the Del Rosario legend grew a little bit more as she was profiled in both Sports Illustrated and Newsweek magazine as they became the latest outlets to discover the gem at Lehman.

Del Rosario laughed off the latest acknowledgements of her storied career as the conversation first turned to team, then to another championship run for Lehman. 

Could it be almost a year has passed already since the Del Rosario-led Lightning captured the CUNYAC title?

“Absolutely not,” Del Rosario said. “It seems like it was just yesterday that we won the championship and now we’re about to go back to it.”

Lehman is definitely going about making a “Run to a Repeat” the right way as the win over John Jay was the Lightning’s eighth straight win in conference play. What’s more, despite their superb play over the last two months (Lehman’s last CUNYAC loss came on Dec. 9 when it dropped an 85-75 decision to Staten Island), Del Rosario doesn’t think the team is playing its best ball yet as several newcomers to the roster are still getting integrated into the team.

“I don’t think we’ve built that chemistry yet but I feel like we’re getting there,” Del Rosario said. “We have a lot of weapons that we have yet to unleash. We have a lot of offense we have yet to click with but I think by the time the playoffs start we’ll be OK.”

Two of the newcomers in particular, Lisa Fields and Marika Gordon, have helped make Lehman a deeper and more dangerous team.

“They brought a different kind of energy,” Del Rosario said. “With Lisa, she has so much energy. She comes into practice every day dancing and singing and we’re like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ There’s just so much energy she brings. And Marika is a great asset inside. We’re a small team and she brings a good option for the post. They have been a great benefit for us.”

Del Rosario is confident the Lightning can make another run at the CUNYAC title again this February and snatch another invitation to the NCAA Tournament. 

“Last year I think we went on an eight-game winning streak right before the playoffs and then we lost to Staten Island in our last [regular season] game,” Del Rosario said. “Now we’ve won eight of our last nine [Lehman’s only loss in that span was to Amherst, the No. 2 team in the country in Division 3]. We know we can win CUNY. We have a more talented team than a bunch of schools in CUNY. We may not have the best chemistry but I think talent-wise we’re a lot better and once we start connecting as a team we’ll continue this run.”

With just two home games left in her career, Del Rosario wants to make the good times last as long as she can. That would mean getting a couple more wins at home and then coming up big in the CUNY Tournament at City College beginning Feb. 18.

Time is short and Del Rosario wants to make the most of the time she has left at Lehman.

“The other day coach [Eric Harrison] was saying there are only a few games left before the playoffs so we want to make this run and get back to the NCAA Tournament,” Del Rosario said. “That would keep my season going until the end of March. He said if you want an extra month of basketball you’ve got to win that [CUNY] championship.”

So, can Lehman repeat as CUNYAC champs this year?

“Absolutely,” Del Rosario said. “Absolutely.”