The SUNY Old Westbury Panthers earned a hard-fought victory over the visiting Hawks of Hunter College as a total team effort was put forth in a 55-50 home opening victory. Despite having 23 turnovers, the Panthers were able to come away with a victory in a see-saw contest on the philosophy of defense.

Old Westbury was led defensively by Senior Jennifer Hoyt's all around effort of three blocks, two steals, nine rebounds, four assists and six points which helped give them the toughness needed to seal the deal against the Hawks.

Monique Midy had a breakout performance tallying 14 points and 10 rebounds and Danna Purnell contributed with a game high 15 points, giving them the senior leadership in crunch time to get the victory. The Hawks were led by Lindsey Meltzer's 13 points and Andrea Buckham's 11 rebounds, which weren't enough to escape the Clark Athletic Center with the road victory.

The Old Westbury Panthers demonstrated all the valuable lessons they learned over the weekend, and took it out on the Cougars of SUNY Purchase in a 92-62 win at the Clark Athletic Center. From the tip the Panthers controlled the tempo, running a steady ship anchored by Junior Ian Johnson's career high 23-point (7-13 FG, 9-11 FT) performance in addition to five assists, two blocks and two steals.

The hard work was contagious as Kenneth Eusey led the way with five steals to go along with six rebounds and seven assists to balance out his three of 12 shooting night on six points. Brian Kuar was a big contributor off the bench leading to his three steal, four rebound, six assist and seven point night, which helped grasp the concept of team play that they were missing this past weekend at LIU-Brooklyn.

Freshman Joshua Frazier established himself in the paint netting 17 points (6-11 FG) and 6 rebounds along with the contribution of Anthony Stowe's 13 points, two steals and three rebounds. The Panthers out rebounded the Cougars 40 to 24 and controlled the ball by giving up 11 turnovers and forcing 22.

Tickets to all Panther home games are available at the entrance to the arena in the Clark Athletic Center. For more information about the Old Westbury Panthers, visit http://www.oldwestburypanthers.com.