FLUSHING, N.Y. (Feb. 27, 2019) – The Queens College women's basketball team spent Wednesday night (Feb. 27) honoring its seniors before falling to Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Knights' regular-season home finale by a score of 63-53.

Prior to the contest, senior guards Kaitlyn Mahon and Emer Moloney---along with five-year team manager Carmine Couloute---were honored in a pregame ceremony by the Queens College women's basketball coaching staff and Interim Athletic Director Rob Twible.

Queens (6-19, 5-12 ECC) opened the first quarter down by a three-point margin after Zaria Thomas hit a trifecta for STAC (25-3, 16-1 ECC) on the game's opening possession. The Spartans went on a 9-3 run in the mid-point of the first period of play but Lucy Tougas brought the Knights to within a four-point margin with a jumper off of an assist by Mahon. Queens was within four points once again on a Beth Bonin three-ball with two minutes to play in the quarter, but the 14-10 deficit ballooned to a 22-10 margin as STAC ran off an 8-0 spurt to close out the frame. The run actually went up to 11-0 thanks to a three-pointer by Julia Winnik to open the second quarter of action. The visitors would continue from there as Queens managed just seven points to close out the half down by a 38-17 score-line.

The Knights opened the second half on a 13-5 run thanks to four early points from Lakeisha Officer and threes from Bonin, Moloney and Nora Gabel. Saint Thomas Aquinas would keep the game on their side at the end of the third quarter, however, as the Spartans led 48-32 going into the final period of play. The Knights trailed by a 54-36 margin at the mid-point of the final frame before engaging in a swift comeback attempt. Gabel hit a three-pointer that was followed by a Moloney bucket, another three from Gabel and a jumper by Tougas; the 10-0 run brought Queens within eight points at 54-46 with just under three minutes to play in the frame. Winnik would knock down a triple out of a STAC time-out and the Spartans were able to keep the Knights at bay through the final buzzer.

Gabel and Officer led the Knights with 11 points apiece; Officer had a team-high eight rebounds while Gabel pulled down five boards. Moloney's last home game in a Knights uniform was a ten-point performance, hitting 50% (4-8) of her shots from the field and collecting four assists. Bonin added nine points and Tougas had eight, while Mahon collected six assists and five rebounds as well. Hu XuanRui played a season-high seven minutes off the bench and scored two points for Queens while Maia Fawcett also added two points in nine total minutes of playing time.

Winnik and Thomas both scored 14 points for STAC with Ruth Adams and Emily Preston adding ten apiece for the Spartans in the victory.

The Knights will conclude their 2018-19 campaign on Saturday (Mar. 2) against District of Columbia. Tip-off from Washington, DC is set for 1 p.m.