It has been a trying couple of weeks for the Queens College women's basketball team, as they were temporarily displaced from their home gym due to Hurricane Sandy. However, the team displayed its toughness in adjusting to unusual practice locations and hosting a tournament in the gym at Townsend Harris High School, and it paid off for them as Bria Jackson's (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) game-high 28 point effort lifted the Knights to a 74-53 win over Concordia to open the 2012 season.
The opening game of the Clarion LaGuardia Tipoff Tournament had the host Knights jump out to a 14-5 lead over the Clippers in the first five minutes of play as baskets by MacKenzie Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y./Shaker), Jackson and Marie Byrnes (Brooklyn, N.Y./Rutgers Prep) keyed the scoring outburst.
From there, Concordia answered in the next five minutes of play as a three-pointer from Kelly Ann Sullivan cut the QC lead to three, at 17-14.
Eventually the Knights got the lead up to double digits as a three-pointer from Jackson at the 2:50 mark gave Queens a 36-24 lead. Concordia cut that lead in half over the final two plus minutes and the Knights led at the break, 39-33.
The second half saw the Clippers hang around and eventually they got within four points courtesy of a Anjali Moncrieffe foul shot at 10:15, that made the score 52-48 Queens.
However, the Knights would turn up the defensive pressure and hold Concordia to five points over the final 10 minutes of play. In that time, they turned a four point lead into a 17 point cushion as Jackson scored 11 points. Perhaps the biggest shot was a Lisanne Comeau (Toronto, Ont./St. Basil the Great) jumper at the 1:28 mark that put the Knights up 15.
In the win, Jackson had a game-high 28, while Rowland had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and Byrnes chipped in with 13 as well.
Queens College will host Post University in day two of the Clarion LaGuardia Tipoff Tournament on Saturday, November 10 at 3:00 PM. Post fell to St. Rose, 53-51, in the second game of the tournament.
