CUNY Hosts 19th Annual ‘Battle of Lexington’ Basketball Game Between Baruch and Hunter Colleges
Matchup Between the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Leading ScorersFebruary 6, 2025
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez performs the ceremonial tipoff during the women’s basketball game.
The City University of New York yesterday hosted the 19th annual “Battle of Lexington” women’s and men’s basketball game between the Baruch College Bearcats and Hunter College Hawks. The historic matchup between the University’s two colleges along Manhattan’s Lexington Avenue brought a face-off between the nation’s two top scorers in NCAA Division III women’s basketball: Baruch College senior Mia Castillo (27.8 ppg) and Hunter College junior Alexa Charles (26.9 ppg), who hold the first and second spots, respectively.
Hunter College point guard Alexa Charles, right, and Baruch College point guard Mia Castillo face off during the game.
CUNY’s representation on the NCAA list also includes Lehman College graduate student Heaven Figueroa (24.8 ppg), the No. 4 top scorer in the country.
Bernie the Bearcat, the Baruch College mascot, hypes up the crowd.
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez attended the game at Baruch College with Baruch President S. David Wu and Hunter President Nancy Cantor, where he performed the ceremonial tip-off. “It’s really wonderful to see our amazing student-athletes thriving in this way,” said Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. “I’m excited to be here at the CUNY equivalent of the Subway Series in basketball.”
From left, Baruch College President S. David Wu, Hunter College President Nancy Cantor and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez watch the game.
Both colleges walked away victorious: The Hunter College Hawks won the women’s game with a final score of 70-58, while the Baruch College Bearcats won the men’s game 99-69.
The Hawks’ win capped a successful start to the Spring 2025 semester for Charles, an accounting major at Hunter who recorded 24 points in the matchup. She was recently named the Division III women’s basketball player of the week for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Met Basketball Writers Association and the CUNY Athletic Conference; this week marks the fifth time she has received the recognition from CUNYAC this season.
“It feels great to have won – this is something that we always look forward to, and now we’re 2-0 in the ‘Battle of Lex.’ It feels pretty great, and I have so much faith in this group of girls that we have,” said Charles, who also led the Hunter women’s team to victory at last year’s Battle of Lexington.
Mia Castillo dribbles the ball down the court.
Castillo, who studies accounting at Baruch with minors in communications and data analytics, is also executive vice president of the college’s chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants. She became the college’s all-time basketball scorer last month and is a four-time CUNYAC player of the week.
“We just wanted to play like a team. We’ve been on a really great roll this season, especially these past eight games. We were looking for our ninth in a row; it just didn’t turn out that way, but I’m really proud of how my girls played,” said Castillo.
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, center, congratulates top scorers Alexa Charles and Mia Castillo.
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