FLUSHING, N.Y. (Jan. 2, 2020) – In the first basketball contest of the 2020 calendar year---as well as the first contest played by the Queens College women's basketball team in the North Gymnasium of Fitzgerald Hall---it was a stellar first-half performance from freshman guard Tayanee Peay that led the Knights to a 78-48 win over the visiting Nyack College Warriors on Thursday (Jan. 2).

Queens moved to 4-9 on the year with the win and Nyack fell to 4-6 in competition on the season with the loss.

Peay's 13 points in the first half came on a 5-of-8 shooting performance as Queens raced out to a 37-20 lead after twenty minutes. The native of Amityville had 18 points in total to lead all scorers on the night along with freshman center Raiana Brown's 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks also leading Queens in the win. The Knights had five players in double-figures with rookie guard Brianne Moxley scoring 12 points and hitting almost all (6-7) of her attempts from the floor. Harmony Philo hit four three-pointers in the win and collected fifteen total points on the night and Zorria West added 12.  

Sarah Wilson had a team-high 11 points for the visitors in the losing effort.

The Knights were on fire from the get-go, shooting 53% (30-57) from the floor including a hot-handed second period with 65% (11-17) of the team's shots falling. It only got better for QC in the second half, specifically in the third quarter as the squad went 9-for-11 (82%) from the floor out of the halftime break. Queens was dominant in the paint as well, out-rebounding the Warriors by a 50-29 margin.  

Queens will break until Jan. 10 when the Knights resume East Coast Conference play by facing Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y. Tip-off from Lumsden Gymnasium is set for 6 p.m.