Flushing, N.Y. - In what very well may have been an East Coast Conference playoff preview on Monday night, the Queens College women's basketball team defeated Dowling College, 56-51 in a game played in Fitzgerald Gym.  A strong second half keyed the victory for QC.

Queens College got off to a hot start against the Golden Lions by taking a 10-2 lead over the first five-and-a-half minutes of action as Madison Rowland accounted for six points, while Marie Byrnes and Kristen Korzevinski accounted for two points apiece.   From there, the Knights pushed the lead to 12 points, when Joya McFarland stole the ball and found Korzevinski for a layup to make the score 20-8 at 9:25.  The Knights wouldn't score again until a pair of Byrnes free throws at the end of the half made the score 22-22 at the break.

Dowling opened the second half with a 6-0 run and the Knights trailed 28-22.  McFarland answered immediately with a slicing layup and MacKenzie Rowland added another and Queens was within two, at 28-26, with 15:46 remaining.  The Knights would eventually draw even when the Rowland sister hooked up on a basket at 14:50.  QC took the lead just over a minute later when Melissa Gardner found Kristen Korzevinski for a basket.  Queens sealed the win by making five-of-six free throws down the stretch when Dowling was forced to foul.

Madison Rowland scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting.  Gardner pulled down 11 rebounds.

The Queens College women's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, February 19, when the host UDC.  The battle between two of the ECC's top teams is slated to being at 5:00 PM.