SPARKILL, N.Y. (Jan. 16, 2019) – Despite going into the locker room at halftime only trailing the top team in the East Coast Conference by a point, the Queens College women's basketball team did not come out of the gates strong in the second half as the Knights fell to Saint Thomas Aquinas by a final score of 72-51 on Wednesday (Jan. 16) at Aquinas Hall.
 
The Knights (2-13, 1-6 ECC) opened the first quarter of play falling behind as STAC (15-2, 6-0 ECC) began the game on a 9-2 run with Kellyann Averill scoring four points in that spurt. Queens chipped its way back into the scoring as Lakeisha Officer knocked down a pair of free throws and Lucy Tougas scored on a lay-up with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the period, bringing the Knights within a 9-6 deficit. The Spartans would not let up as Alexa Huertas scored on back-to-back three-pointers to give STAC a 19-10 lead at the end of the first. The second quarter commenced with a treble from Kaitlyn Mahon that kicked off a 16-4 run through nearly the full period of play; Nora Gabel and Beth Bonin hit threes with less than three minutes to play in the half to tie the score at 23-all and then give the Knights their first lead at 26-23. Huertas and Julia Winnik responded for the hosts to set STAC up with a three-point lead, but Mahon put home a jumper as time expired to provide the one-point deficit with the Spartans up 31-30.
 
After a slow start to the third quarter---neither team converted a basket in the opening two minutes of play---Winnik rained in a three-pointer that got the tide-turning run started for Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Spartans scored the first twelve points of the period, holding Queens scoreless for almost six minutes until Officer hit a lay-up with 4:06 to play in the quarter. At that point, STAC held a 43-32 lead and the Spartans ended the frame ahead by a 50-33 score; Saint Thomas Aquinas had outscored QC by a 19-3 margin in the third period.  Melissa Sadler scored on the first possession of the fourth quarter to keep the momentum going for STAC and Queens would fail to get within single digits again.
 
Officer led the Knights with 13 points off the bench to go along with a team-high eight rebounds and two steals. Tougas added 12 points, six boards and four assists while Mahon played a solid game with nine points and five rebounds. Gabel added nine points and Bonin finished with eight points in the effort. QC shot 21-for-52 (40.4%) in the contest, hitting five three-pointers; the team finished just 4-of-10 from the free throw line, however. STAC had four players in double figures, led by Averill's 12 but Emily Preston's line of 11 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two steals proved to be a difference-maker. The Spartans owned the glass, outrebounding Queens by a 49-35 margin; the Knights committed 20 turnovers in the loss.
 
Queens will look to bounce back with a home contest---the first since Dec. 19---against the Firebirds of the University of the District of Columbia. Tip-off from Lucille Kyvallos Court at Fitzgerald Gymnasium is set for 1:30 p.m. and live stats will be featured on the all-new queensknights.com as well as a video stream for fans who cannot attend the game.